Russian ship targeted by US sanctions

The German Ministry of Economy said on Monday that the Russian ship involved in laying the pipeline to complete the controversial North Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany would be approved by the US administration.

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“It simply came to our notice then. We look forward to the announcementA ministry spokesman confirmed daily information to the AFP about the German business Handlesplot Washington will formalize the decision on Tuesday. The Donald Trump administration has in recent months mounted threats against companies participating in this strategic plan, which is funded by the Russian oil company Gosprom and semi-European companies. Washington led the device to sanctions last summer, however without implementing them.

According to le Handlesplot, The United States has informed Germany and several European countries that it is going to break up the Russian company KVT-RUS-owned “Fortuna” pipeline. The decision, which is scheduled for Tuesday, comes just days before Donald Trump’s presidency ends and Joe Biden takes office. In December, “Fortuna” led to the reopening of the site, which had been dormant for a year, by laying a 2.6-kilometer narrow pipeline in the German Sea. The boat is now expected in Danish waters, but scheduled activities in mid-January have been postponed to an unknown date “Tests and Preparations”, According to North Stream 2.

Europeans dependence on Russian gas

Originally scheduled for launch in early 2020, Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline that will double its Russian gas supply capacity to its predecessor Nord Stream 1 and ensure security for supply to Western Europe via the Baltic Sea. But it also opposes the United States and European countries such as Poland, which fears Europeans will rely on Russian gas, which Moscow may use to exert political pressure. The project mainly links the Russian company Gasprom with five European groups: the French Engi, the Germans Uniform and Wintershall, the Austrian OMV and the Anglo-Dutch Shell.

Although its 1,230 kilometers were almost completed, the site was suspended for almost a year due to US sanctions. In early January, the Norwegian group DNVGL, a classification and certification body, announced that it was withdrawing from the project in order not to fall under possible action from Washington. Sanctions condemned by the European Union, Berlin and Moscow include the freezing of assets and the cancellation of US visas for contractors linked to the pipeline.