MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russia will continue to implement its economic projects, despite sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement of Saturday in connection with US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines.
"Russia has implemented and will continue to implement its economic projects regardless of anyone’s sanctions," the diplomatic service said.
The Ministry added that the United States, by imposing sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines, is trying to deprive its European allies of a guaranteed supply of energy from Russia and to impose its liquefied gas.
The ministry emphasized that the United States seeks to deprive its European allies of "guaranteed sources of supply" of energy from Russia. "Moreover, the desire to harm Russian exports is by no means the only or even the most important," the diplomatic service noted. "There is a tendency to impose US liquefied gas on Europe, which costs it much more than pipeline deliveries from Russia, and thereby slow development of economies, undermining the ability to compete with the US in global markets. As a result, Europeans are losing out on all counts," the ministry added.
According to the Foreign Ministry, not Russian, but European companies that participate in construction of the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines will be subjected to sanctions. "Washington has decided that for the sake of geopolitical ambitions and commercial gain, you can spare no one, even your closest NATO partners," the ministry concluded.
It was reported earlier on Saturday that sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines, included in the military budget for the 2020 fiscal year signed by US President Donald Trump (began on October 1), came into force.
Switzerland-based Allseas, pipe-laying company for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, reported earlier suspension of pipelay activities until regulatory, technical and environmental clarifications from the relevant US authority.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 violate international law and present a perfect example of unfair competition.
The United States Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the US Department of Defense for 2020 fiscal year (started on October 1), which obliges the administration to impose sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines. Earlier, on December 11, the House of Representatives voted for the document.
The Nord Stream 2 project involves construction of two lines with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters of gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Gazprom’s European partners in the project are German Uniper and Wintershall, Austrian OMV, French Engie and Anglo-Dutch Shell. The pipeline bypasses transit states - Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and other East European and Baltic countries - through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.