MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The agreement between the US and Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, if signed, gives hope that this project will no longer be politicized and the Ukrainian leadership will understand the true balance of power in this matter, Chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs Leonid Slutsky wrote in his Telegram channel on Wednesday.

The State Duma is the lower house of the Russian parliament.

"If publications in the Western media correspond to reality, at least to some extent, then the agreement between the US and Germany on Nord Stream 2 and the recommendation of the American authorities to Kiev should bring the Ukrainian leadership down to earth," Slutsky wrote.

According to him, Washington "will not sacrifice its relations with Berlin, which is clearly not going to abandon the profitable economic project - the Nord Stream 2 pipeline".

"Still, it’s interesting to see how President [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky will now move forward with his recent initiative to discuss Nord Stream 2 within the Normandy format. He’ll likely have to forget about it and pretend he never said it," the lawmaker continued.

Slutsky recalled that the Ukrainian leader was "recently reminded by his Western curators of the "Steinmeier formula", which provides for elections in Donbass".

"That means that it is worth finally getting down to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and not their perpetual sabotage," the lawmaker noted.

"We are waiting for official information on the deal. But in any case, there is hope that attempts to further politicize Nord Stream 2 will not achieve their goal," Slutsky summed up.

Agreement on Nord Stream

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US and Germany had reached an agreement allowing the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and that officials from Berlin and Washington expect to announce the deal as soon as Wednesday.

According to the publication, the Biden administration will effectively waive Washington’s longstanding opposition to the pipeline, while Germany under the agreement will agree to assist Ukraine in energy-related projects and diplomacy.

The Politico newspaper wrote citing sources that, the Biden administration asked Ukraine to stay quiet about its opposition to the Nord Stream 2 following the agreement reached between Washington and Berlin.

In turn Bloomberg reported that the U.S. and Germany are close to a deal on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The agency cited the draft agreement which implies that if Russia attempted to use energy as a weapon or commit aggression against Ukraine, Germany would take action itself while also pressing for measures at the European level, including sanctions to limit Russia’s energy export.

The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that Nord Stream 2 is a commercial project and is being implemented jointly with European partners. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed bewilderment at the attempts of a number of countries to determine the fate of the gas pipeline on politically motivated circumstances.