BERLIN, February 4. /TASS/. Germany views exterritorial sanctions of the US as unacceptable, a source in the Foreign Ministry told TASS, responding to a request for a comment on mass media reports concerning Washington’s readiness to impose new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 project participants.
"The Foreign Ministry does not participate in speculations [regarding future sanctions - TASS]. The Federal Government maintains the contact with the US on all important bilateral and international issues. The position of the Government is known. The Government does not accept as a matter of principle any form of exterritorial restrictive measures," the source said.
The US intends to impose new sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if Russia attempts to complete its construction, Handelsblatt newspaper said on Tuesday, citing US diplomatic sources. European investors or companies wishing to buy natural gas from the pipeline can be affected this time, Handelsblatt reported.
Nord Stream 2 is an international project for the construction of a gas pipeline that will run across the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast to Germany bypassing transit states. The new 1,200 kilometer pipeline, basically following the same route as Nord Stream, will traverse economic zones and territorial water of five countries, namely Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The pipeline’s capacity will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year.