BERLIN, July 22. /TASS/. Moscow has never used energy as a "weapon", or an instrument of pressure, and the style of the agreement between Germany and the United States on Nord Stream 2 is unacceptable, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev announced on Thursday.
"We are extremely surprised by the content and the tone of ‘the Joint Statement of the United States and Germany on Support for Ukraine, European Energy Security, and our Climate Goals’, published on July 21," the diplomat told TASS.
"Threats are being voiced to ‘punish’ our country for using energy as a ‘weapon’ by way of introducing new sanctions and the use of ‘other instruments’. In fact, an ultimatum is being put forward on continuing the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine after the current agreements expires in 2024, for up to 10 years," the diplomat specified.
"We believe this style of international communication is unacceptable," he said, adding, "Russia has never used energy as a ‘weapon’, or an instrument of pressure". "Our Western colleagues, who are also our long-term partners in the energy sector, are well aware of this. They are also aware of our attitude to the threats and illegitimate sanctions by Western countries on any occasion," he added.
"Russia is not a country you can place ultimatums on, make decisions for it, or disdainfully assign responsibilities to it. We are able to determine our policy, including energy policy, sovereignly, without outside interference, based on our own interests and the experience of many years of mutually beneficial cooperation with foreign partners," the ambassador emphasized.
On July 21, the United States and Germany struck an agreement on the Nord Stream 2 project. In particular, Washington acknowledged that sanctions would not stop its implementation, and Berlin pledged to seek an extension of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. US President Joe Biden said that Nord Stream 2 is 99% complete and it is impossible to stop its construction. At the same time, the US authorities reserved the right to take action in response to "Russia's use of energy as a geopolitical weapon in Europe" and "aggression against Ukraine," the State Department said.