US sanctions will delay Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline but WON’T END IT, Polish PM admits

The Polish prime minister has admitted that US sanctions will fail to torpedo the major Baltic Sea pipeline intended to supply Germany with Russian natural gas, and says he wishes the project had “never begun in the first place.”

“I believe the US sanctions will delay the project but will not end it,” Mateusz Morawiecki told German newspaper Die Welt in an interview.

Swiss-Dutch pipe-laying company Allseas stopped its work on the pipeline in December through fear of getting hit by the sanctions, which were adopted by the US earlier that month.

Morawiecki, whose government argues that the project will make the EU too dependent on Russian gas, called Berlin’s decision not to abandon Nord Stream 2 a “step in the wrong direction.” 

“In Poland, naturally, we would prefer that the construction of Nord Stream 2 would have never begun,” he said.

The PM noted that, despite Poland “regularly” voicing its concerns over the pipeline to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it “doesn’t change the fact that Warsaw and Berlin have different opinions on this issue.”

Merkel has strongly opposed US attempts to derail the construction of the pipeline, arguing that it will be beneficial for both Germany and the EU. During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, the chancellor stressed that Nord Stream 2 “will be implemented no matter what” and vowed to continue her support for the project.

Putin said that Russia is capable of completing the project on its own and that, although construction could take a few months longer, it would be finished “either by the end of this year or early next year”.

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