UK calls for end to Nord Stream 2 in event of Russian attack on Ukraine

The British government has declared the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be abandoned if Russia launches an attack on Ukraine, newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reports. In an interview with Sky News on Monday, the country’s foreign minister Liz Truss said she was “very clear that Nord Stream 2 should not continue in the event of an attack on Ukraine.” When asked whether she believed the project should continue at all, she replied that Europe needs to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas, as troop buildups at the border between Russia and Ukraine increasingly stoke fears among western countries over the outbreak of an armed conflict. Earlier in the week, the Kremlin rejected fears that Russia could halt gas supplies if new sanctions are introduced. "Russia has fulfilled its treaty obligations impeccably in the most difficult moments of confrontation between East and West," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency, according to the Tagesspiegel. However, Russian gas company Gazprom said gas levels in Europe currently are at record lows, news agency TASS reported.

The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which links Germany with Russia, has been the subject of heated debate and was temporarily the target of sanctions drawn up by the previous US administration. German chancellor Olaf Scholz had said the pipeline’s future would have to be discussed in the event of a Russian invasion in Ukraine, while foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia’s government would face a high cost for any agressive intervention.