Bavaria Prime Minister Markus SöderBERLIN, Jan 22The leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder opposed the tightening of sanctions against Russia and the Nord Stream 2 project. «No one can want war in Europe. At the same time, the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine must be respected in accordance with international law. But constant new threats and increasingly harsh sanctions against Russia cannot be a solution,» Söder told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. According to him, the restrictions «have long been ineffective» and, moreover, can harm Germany itself. «For example «, the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT financial system. The closure of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic gas pipeline, or even the cessation of all gas supplies from Russia, would also affect our country. Even at the height of the Cold War, the energy connection between the Soviet Union and Germany was not in doubt,» added policy.
The US Permanent Representative to the UN suggested why Russia will not cut off gas to EuropeThe leader of the German conservatives believes that «at some point the West will have to answer the key question: is there a plan to expand NATO at the expense of Ukraine or not?» — whatever the debate about Moscow's right to «dictate anything here.» «In my opinion, one thing is clear: NATO's eastward expansion in relation to Ukraine will not be on the agenda for a long time,» Söder said, adding that «Russia is a difficult partner, but not an enemy of Europe,» most Germans would like stable and peaceful relations with Moscow, so «we must continue the dialogue, despite the challenges.» The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year is laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Germany. The procedure for its certification was temporarily suspended, since the regulator considered it necessary to create an enterprise in Germany — a «daughter» of Nord Sream 2 AG, which, according to European law, must submit a new application for certification. The US, which wants to use Nord Stream 2, is against the project «as a lever of pressure on Russia against the backdrop of escalating tensions around Ukraine. Moscow, in turn, has repeatedly urged not to politicize the situation with the gas pipeline and emphasized that this is an exclusively commercial project, beneficial not only to Moscow, but also to the European Union. » />The Austrian Chancellor announced the need for Nord Stream 2
