SAMARKAND, September 16. /TASS/. European countries can lift sanctions from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if they are "so desperate," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday He was holding a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan.
"After all, if they are so desperate, if everything is so difficult, go and lift the sanctions on Nord Stream 2. It is 55 billion cubic meters per year - just press the button, and that's all," the Russian leader said.
"No, they closed it themselves, they closed it here, closed it there. They put a new gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2 under sanctions. And we are to blame. Let them think about who is to blame for what, rather than blaming us for their own mistakes."
Putin stressed that both Gazprom and the Russian Federation have fulfilled and will continue to fulfill all their contractual obligations.
"There have never been any failures here and never will be," the Russian leader emphasized.
On February 22, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the German government was suspending the certification of the Nord Stream 2 project after Russia recognized the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. The next day, US President Joe Biden ordered his administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its leadership in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The construction of Nord Stream 2 was fully completed on September 10, 2021. Initially, it was planned to be completed before the end of 2019, but due to Washington’s sanctions, the construction was delayed. The gas pipeline consists of two strings with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, which run from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.