Russia could turn to a national or contract jurisdiction court to protect its interests against interference against the completion of the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Dmitry Medvedev, former prime minister and now Deputy Chair of Russia's Security Council, told Russian media on Monday.
"If there are reasons for this, it goes without saying the issue may be taken to court," TASS news agency quoted Medvedev as saying in an interview.
The final stretch of the construction of the controversial pipeline from Russia to Germany now looks even more uncertain, and even Russian gas giant Gazprom has warned investors that the Nord Stream 2 project could be suspended or entirely discontinued due to extraordinary circumstances, including "political pressure."
Last month, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Russian pipe-laying vessel that was expected to complete the construction of Nord Stream 2, while several Western companies are said to have abandoned links to the project for fear of sanctions.
Germany has always looked at the project from an economic standpoint, while the United States, several European countries, including the Baltic states, Poland, and the European Union (EU), have expressed concern about Russia using gas sales and its gas monopoly Gazprom as a political tool.
Over the past months, the U.S. has been broadening the sanctions against service providers and those funding vessels involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 in a fresh attempt to prevent the project from completing. There is still a stretch of the pipeline route to be laid in the sea, but the U.S. is now targeting anyone helping the project's completion in any way.
Speaking to Russian media today, Medvedev said that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be completed "beyond doubt" if Germany avoids "catering to the American stance."
The widening U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 are a kind of hybrid warfare used by the United States, Vladimir Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said in December.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
With 96% of the 1230-km long pipeline already completed and with billions of dollars already spent on constructing it, the prospects of President Putin or Gazprom abandoning the pipeline are unthinkable.
When Dimitry Medvedev, former Prime Minister of Russia and now Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, told Russia Today on Monday that Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be completed “beyond doubt” if Germany avoids “catering to the American stance”, he wasn’t referring to German Chancellor Angela Markel but to German companies involved in the building of the pipeline some of whom might succumb to American pressure and jump ship.
Angela Market fought valiantly against crude and intense pressure and threats of imposing sanctions on Germany by former President Trump through his four years in the White House and never wavered in her support of the project.
In a nutshell, Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is unstoppable.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London