“The United States will not be able to disrupt the completion of the Russian-European energy project, no matter what new sanctions they come up with, but it can affect the completion time.” This was stated by a member of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Sergey Zheleznyak, commenting on the introduction of a new package of sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 in the US Senate.
“At the same time,” the politician noted, “the Russian side will not be responsible for extending the commissioning time of Nord Stream-2. European participants should bear their share of responsibility for the joint project. Europeans need high-quality and inexpensive Russian gas, and the US understands that they can only try to squeeze Russia out of the European energy market through blackmail and other methods of unfair competition.”
According to him: “The United States is desperate for the gross pressure of European countries, feeling the danger of losing control of the situation. But Washington’s influence on European partners is obviously still very large. Until the countries of Europe are able to take up their own sovereignty, they will not be able to fully defend the interests of their citizens, including in matters of energy security. There comes a time when European project participants will have to choose between national interests and dances to the tune of American capital.”