Germany said it plans to complete the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipeline project despite opposition from France over Moscow’s jailing of opposition figure Alexey Navalny.
The stance of the German government "has not changed" in recent days, deputy government spokeswoman Martina Fietz said, after France’s secretary of state for Europe Clément Beaune asked Germany to halt the project.
A spokesman for Germany’s Federal Foreign Office in Berlin told Die Welt that although the project is going ahead, the German government was aware of the French position and having a "very close exchange" with Paris on the pipeline issue.
Work resumed on Nord Stream 2 in December after being on hold for almost a year because of American sanctions.
