BERLIN, January 14. /TASS/. The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which was damaged by a sabotage, must be repaired, because Germany will require cheaper gas once the hostilities in Ukraine are over, says Michael Kretschmer, Minister President of Saxony and Deputy Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union Party.

"The issue of the Russian gas is not on the table while the war is going," he said in an interview for the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers Saturday. However, he noted, now is the time to make sure that the Nord Stream infrastructure is secure from further damage.

"The operator must ensure that the pipeline can be repaired. We are running out of time. If the damage is not repaired, the Nord Stream will become unusable for a long time," he said.

"We must have an option to buy something other than the expensive liquefied gas after the war. We must assess, which country we can buy cheaper alternatives from, it corresponds to our national interests," the politician added.

Currently, Germany is dependent on liquefied natural gas supplies, and it builds new terminals to accept it. There is only one operation terminal at this point; later on Saturday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will open the second one.

On September 26, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported "unprecedented damage" to the three lines of Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish Island of Bornholm. Later, Swedish seismologists reported two explosions registered in that area. On November 18, the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office said that the explosions at the pipelines were sabotage; the investigation continues.

After that, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) investigators opened a criminal case over an act of international terrorism. It is currently impossible to determine how long it will take to restore the pipelines. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the responsibility for the situation lies with the West, who "effectively started destruction of the common European energy infrastructure.".