The United States repeated a warning to Western firms invested in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany that they were at risk of sanctions.
“We have been clear that firms working in the Russian energy export pipeline sector are engaging in a line of business that carries sanctions risk,” a spokesman for the US State Department said. However, Washington did not specify what restrictions would take place.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump accused Germany of being a “captive” of Russia due to its support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. "It's very inappropriate," he said. Trump went on to complain that the US is expected to "defend them against Russia," despite Europe’s largest economy making "billions of dollars" in energy payments to Moscow.
In late June, Germany was assured by the United States that any sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect the building of a gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe.
Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline project slated to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany running mostly under the Baltic Sea. The pipeline, which is expected to supply 55 billion cubic meters of gas, will be put into operation before late 2019.