OREANDA-NEWS. There are only a few weeks left until the building of the Nord Stream 2 project is completed. This information was provided by Sergei Nechaev, the Russian ambassador to Germany, in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

According to the diplomat, the work on laying the pipeline is at the final stage. “At the same time, we take as a basis the fact that the deal between Germany and the United States will not influence the speed of building and the completion date of Nord Stream 2,” he said.

At the same time, the Russian ambassador added that the agreement between Washington and Berlin has no specific impact on Russia specifically.

Nord Stream 2 is an almost finished, 99 percent completed pipeline that leads from Russia to Germany. It has a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of the project is already nearing completion and should be completed by the end of the summer. In June, the Nord Stream 2 operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, announced that the technical construction of the offshore section of the first branch of the gas pipeline had been completed, but it would take several more months for commissioning to fill the pipeline with gas.

Earlier, Berlin and Washington issued a joint statement, which notes that in order for the project to start working, it is necessary to guarantee the continuation of transit through Ukraine after 2024, that is, after the expiration of the term of the current agreement. Germany also promised to seek the introduction of sanctions against Russia in the event "if Moscow uses energy exports as a means of pressure on Ukraine."

Russia has repeatedly called for turning this economic project into a political one, reminding that the gas pipeline is beneficial not only for Russia, but also for the European Union, and emphasizing that it has never used energy resources as an instrument of pressure and is not going to do so. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that Nord Stream 2 is a purely economic project, its route is shorter than through European countries and Ukraine, and cheaper.