Kremlin: it is impossible to switch off Nord Stream 2

Holding up the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline’s launch is bad for the project’s participants, for consumers, and for Europe’s economic development as a whole, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"It is impossible to switch off the Nord Stream 2 commercial international project, because it has not been launched yet. The fact that it has not been launched is bad both for those who are engaged in this project and for those who consume gas in Europe. It is bad for the economic development of Europe, which, by the way, is also suffering significantly in these pandemic times," Peskov highlighted.

The Kremlin official concurred that the situation in Ukraine is "very tense, indeed." "We see the deliveries of weapons there, we see various maneuvers and we see flights by NATO and West European aircraft. All these factors make the situation around Ukraine tense," the Russian presidential spokesman stressed.

Moscow would like its counterparts, those in Germany included, to focus attention on this as well, Peskov added.

"And as for relations with Germany, we greatly appreciate them and they are very important to us. We hope that we will steadily cultivate them," he emphasized.

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not rule out measures against Nord Stream 2 in the event of Moscow's ‘aggression’ against Kiev. Commenting on these statements, the Kremlin press secretary noted that "someone regularly, on a daily basis threatens Russia with something."