White House building in Washington, USAWASHINGTON, Feb 9 The US administration continues to oppose the project of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 and promises to prevent its launch if the crisis in Ukraine escalates, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. «We do not support Nord Stream 2. We clearly communicated that we continue to oppose it believing that this geopolitical project of Russia undermines the national security of a significant part of the countries of Europe,» Psaki said during a regular briefing.Chizhov explained what Russia will do in the absence of Nord Stream 2. She confirmed the earlier statements of the American administration that “if Russia invades Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 will not be launched.” Official Washington has been for many months criticizes the Russian gas pipeline, stating that it will allegedly increase Europe's dependence on Russian gas. The Russian Federation, for its part, has repeatedly stated that Nord Stream 2, which is actively opposed by the United States, which promotes its liquefied natural gas in the EU, as well as Ukraine, which fears to lose transit, is commercially beneficial for Europe, and called to stop mentioning it in the context of any politicization. Moscow has also stated that it intends to continue transiting gas through Ukraine. Plans attributed to Russia to escalate the situation around Ukraine are categorically denied in Moscow and constantly state that no one is threatened, and all such statements are used as an excuse to place more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier, Russia does not create any pretexts for a conflict situation around Ukraine. According to him, Russia does not rule out that the hysteria around Ukraine, hyped by the West, is aimed at covering Kiev's line of sabotaging the Minsk agreements on Donbass. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the US and NATO information hysteria over Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. The Foreign Ministry called the statements of the US and Germany on Nord Stream 2 a big top circus
