According to Reuters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline cannot go ahead without clarity on Ukraine’s role as a gas transit route, appearing to harden her stance towards the project.
„I made very clear that a Nord Stream 2 project is not possible without clarity on the future transit role of Ukraine,” she told a joint news conference in Berlin with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
„So you can see that it is not just an economic issue but there are also political considerations,” she added quoted by Reuters.
„I also said to President Putin yesterday: it cannot be that through Nord Stream 2, Ukraine has no further importance regarding the transit of gas,” said the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Eastern European and Baltic states fear the pipeline could increase reliance on Russian gas and undermine Ukraine’s role as a gas transit route. Germany, along with other beneficiaries in northern Europe, has so far backed the project.
Reuters