MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Washington’s actions regarding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are an example of unfair competition, any gains of which would be lost sooner or later, and the tenacity of US lawmakers is worthy of a better cause, Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Chairman Leonid Slutsky opined in his Telegram channel Friday.
"The fanatical tenacity of the lawmakers in their attempts to stop the Nord Stream 2 is worthy of a better cause. This project, which is exclusively economic in nature, is effectively complete. The sea part of the first pipeline of the Nord Stream 2 is technically complete, and active work on the second pipeline is underway," Slutsky said.
The senior lawmaker noted that the Nord Stream 2 is beneficial for Europe, and the Europeans themselves acknowledge it.
"However, the US is not concerned with the needs of their Euro-Atlantic allies, despite all Washington’s talks about unity. In the last few years, the US sought to clean up the European market for its own liquefied natural gas - a resource more expensive and more difficult to transport — via all possible means. Ukraine was one instrument of pressure. Allegedly, the Nord Stream 2 would allow Russia to exert pressure on Kiev by stripping it of gas transit," he noted.
"All this is simply an unfair competition of the US on the gas market, which they would lose sooner or later. This entire romp around the Nord Stream 2 is a shining example of Washington’s egoistical methods of the promotion of its geopolitical and economic interests, including by imposing sanctions. When will our European partners finally open their eyes?" Slutsky concluded.
Earlier, the US Congress approved an amendment on the US Department of State funding for 2022, which makes it possible to void the US Administration’s decision to reject sanctions against the Nord Stream 2.