EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the European Commission, the European Union cannot forbid the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
"About Nord Stream 2 we have already said everything that can be said. This is a private investment done by a consortium of firms. Some of them are German, but there are other firms from other Member States of the European Union. The infrastructure is finished and it is pending of the qualification of the regulator," he said.
Borrell stressed that the Commission, the European institutions cannot forbid that someone builds an infrastructure according to the rules.
"Certainly, the functioning of this infrastructure will depend on the development of events in Ukraine and the attitude of Russia," he said after meeting with EU defence ministers in Brest, France.
"You cannot imagine we are thinking on one side of imposing sanctions [on Russia] just in case, and, on the other hand ... opening of the infrastructure," he added.
