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Poroshenko determined to continue fighting against Nord Stream 2 construction

The Nord Stream-2 project involves construction of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters of gas a year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany

© Nord Stream 2/Wolfram Scheible

BERLIN, April 12. /TASS/. Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko said that he would not stop fighting against the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.

"We have not stopped our struggle to stop the construction by inviting German companies to participate in the management of the Ukrainian gas transportation system," he said at a briefing with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

At the same time, he admitted that for the time being Ukraine and Germany see differently the mechanisms for the protection of Ukrainian interests.

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"Our strategic partnership assumes that we can discuss any issues, and so far Germany’s position is to protect Ukraine and ensure its security. But we see different mechanisms for protecting this security," he noted.

According to him, Germany sees this mechanism in preserving a certain amount of gas transit through the Ukrainian gas transport system, while Kiev sees it stopping the construction of the Nord Stream 2.

"Because we see in it a political threat to Ukraine," Poroshenko explained and added that Ukraine is continuing negotiations with Germany on this issue.

In turn, Angela Merkel expressed hope that the partnership between Germany and Ukraine would withstand the differences on the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project.

"We have common goals regarding the fact that Ukraine should remain a gas transit country," the Chancellor said.

She stressed that Berlin supports trilateral gas negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the EU.

"I always clearly told the Russian President [Vladimir Putin] that Nord Stream 2, for me, in spite of everything, means that Ukraine will remain a transit country [for gas]," said the head of the German government.

"Our strategic partnership [with Ukraine] will tolerate the fact that we disagree on one issue. Despite this, we have a large number of similar views," Merkel said.

The Nord Stream-2 project involves construction of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters of gas a year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The total cost of the project is estimated at 9.5 bln euro. The launch of the pipeline is expected before the end of this year.

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