MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The new sanctions related to Nord Stream 2 imposed by Washington look like a manifestation of an obsession, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"Another round of sanctions against companies related to Nord Stream 2 imposed by the US administration look like a manifestation of true obsession as the project is at the stage of completion of preparations to commissioning," she said.
The arguments about the purely commercial nature of the project, which is indeed extremely important for the stable provision of energy and supporting the competitiveness of Germany and overall, the European Union, are well-known, Zakharova said, adding that Moscow has repeatedly expressed them, in particular to its American partners.
"Another thing should be noted, that the US is building barriers for the export of Russian energy resources to the European market with one hand, making it rather hypocritically, while extending the other hand, convincing Russia and other producing countries, so to say, ‘pump more’ to knock prices down. This all is being done by one side. In saying the word side, I mean political figures, not the US people that I think have no idea how far the US’ national interests are from what certain representatives of the political establishment are trying to do with it," she emphasized.
Washington ignores the interests of its allies by imposing new sanctions, according to Zakharova. "The situation confirms that Washington, to put it mildly, fundamentally ignores the interests of its own allies and is not concerned for them. They are not worried about anything. It is no coincidence that some say in Germany that the US’ actions in this direction, against Nord Stream 2, contradict the spirit of bilateral partnership. But how else can it be commented on? Though whether they will be heard by American politicians, by the way, and media outlets that are automatically against any cooperation with Russia, even when it is beneficial for Washington, is questionable," she said.
"Russia’s position remains unchanged: unilateral anti-Russian sanctions are illegitimate, they hurt not so much ours as the interests of the US itself, and in the case of Nord Stream 2, [the interests of] the direct allies of the US, collective and individual - the European Union, Germany," the ministry’s spokeswoman added.
On Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Cyprus-based company Transadria and the Russian-flagged vessel Marlin. US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing on Tuesday that Washington intends to continue introducing sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which the US side considers "a Russian geopolitical project" and "a bad deal" for Europe and Ukraine.