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Polish Briefing 22 August, 2018 9:00 am   
COMMENTS: Mateusz Gibała

Polish Briefing: Russia says it would respond to sanctions against Nord Stream 2

What goes on in Poland on the 22nd of August.

Russia says it would respond to sanctions against Nord Stream 2

Russia will respond to the United States if they impose sanctions on Gazprom’s partners in implementing the Nord Stream 2 project. According to the Kremlin, Washington’s actions are a violation of international trade rules and can not be motivated by any motives.

“We have repeatedly stated that attempts to oppose a strictly commercial international project are absurd and contrary to trade rules and norms, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) norms,” ​​said Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a conversation with journalists.

Last weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States is carrying out advanced work on a package of new sanctions that will hit the project partners of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to newspaper sources, restrictions could take effect in a few weeks.

At the same time, he stressed that, guided by the interests of the country, Moscow would respond to new US sanctions. – We will not go out ahead. We will do what the president of Russia always does, that is, what best suits the interests of the country. Let’s wait. As you can see, they get lost in sanctions projects, so let’s wait for a resolution. If they fail, then we will be guided primarily by the interests of the Russian Federation – said spokesman Vladimir Putin. In addition, he once again stressed that the introduction of restrictions will be a “continuation of unfriendly and unlawful actions that harm international trade”.

The US is against Nord Stream 2

According to Peskov, Russia wants to get out of the crisis in relations with the United States, “but we will not cry if it does not meet with a similar reaction from Washington”.

The United States has repeatedly emphasized its opposition to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The US maintains its position that it threatens Europe’s energy security and is another tool for politicizing Russia’s gas supply. It is also worth mentioning that Washington supports Europe’s efforts to diversify sources of blue gas supply – including projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor and Baltic Pipe. They are to reduce the dependence of Europe on the supply of Russian gas.

At the end of May US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo allowed for the imposition of further sanctions that could strike Nord Stream 2 partners. Although in August 2017, American President Donald Trump signed a law on the basis of which any company cooperating with Russians could be punished, still did not use the possibility of imposing sanctions on entities involved in Nord Stream 2.