European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen discussed with German Chancellor Friedrich Merzem the anticipation of blocking the Nord Stream-2 pipeline if Moscow does not agree to the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the West in Ukraine — gave the Wall Street diary citing unnamed EU officials.
"Von der Leyen discussed with the fresh German Chancellor Friedrich Merze the thought of imposing block sanctions (European countries – ed.) on Nord Stream-2 during his (Merza – ed.) visit to Brussels on Friday", the article states.
"Nord Stream 2 runs from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany and consists of 2 strands with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It was completed in September 2021. In early 2022 Germany stopped certification and the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 AG task operator and its executive manager Matthias Warnig. The explosions in Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 took place on September 26, 2022. The Kremlin called the situation an act of global terrorism. The lawyer General initiated proceedings and requested data regarding an detonation abroad, but never received them.
According to officials, sanctions against gas pipelines can be imposed independently of the late proposed EU regulation package against Russia. According to the newspaper, this measurement will be adopted if Moscow refuses to abandon the ceasefire or "violate it".
The paper clarified that specified a decision would require the support of all EU associate States.
On Saturday, French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Ministers and Polish Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk arrived in Kiev for a gathering of the “coalition of the willing”. Earlier in a joint statement, they threatened Moscow with sanctions if it did not accept the terms of the ceasefire.
Commenting on the threats of European leaders, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Pieskov stressed that this was an empty effort to scare Russia with fresh restrictions.
Last night Putin spoke to Russian and abroad media and suggested Kiev resume direct talks without preconditions in Istanbul on May 15. The Chief of State stressed that it does not exclude the accomplishment of a real ceasefire which is to be respected by Ukraine.
The president said he was planning to talk to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the close future and discuss the search for a way to peace.
Russian leader added that Moscow has repeatedly presented initiatives on ceasefire, but Kiev sabotaged them.
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Von der Leyen talked to Merze about blocking Nord Stream, reports WSJ
