Venediktov: no legal grounds to suspend Nord Stream-2 construction

There are no legal grounds to suspend or stop Nord Stream-2 construction, the project’s opponents are using unlawful means, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexander Venediktov said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily, commenting on U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s statement on a new sanction-imposing law geared against the gas pipeline.

He stressed that the project fully complies with international maritime and environmental laws, the Third Energy Package, Finland’s, Sweden’s, Denmark’s and Germany’s laws. 

"The project’s opponents are fully aware of that and resort to instruments outside the legal framework, use illegal tools that are not merely geared against the Russian pipeline but also threaten the global economy," TASS cited Venediktov as saying.

He also stressed that Russia’s partners under the project are interested in its soonest implementation. This interest, in his words, is purely economic as is motivation of the project’s opponents.