The Kremlin categorically disagrees with the position of Washington and Kiev that the Nord Stream 2 project poses a threat to someone, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
"You know that the project is close to completion. We hope that it will be launched and will play a very important role in ensuring the energy security of Europe. This is an exclusively commercial project that cannot pose any threat to anyone. We categorically disagree with the joint US-Ukrainian position that this project allegedly poses a threat to Ukraine and to Europe as a whole," Peskov said.
The Russian Energy Ministry expects gas supplies via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to start by the end of this year, Minister Nikolai Shulginov told a briefing at the Eastern Economic Forum on Thursday.
"I think that gas pumping via Nord Stream 2 will start this year," he said.
Russia's gas producer Gazprom said earlier that 5.6 bln cubic meters of gas might be delivered via the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline this year.
Nord Stream 2 includes the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that Nord Stream 2 is a commercial project, and Moscow has never used energy resources as an instrument of pressure.
Yesterday, the U.S. and Ukraine issues the joint strategic partnership statement, stressing that they will continue to oppose Nord Stream 2, which they view as a threat to European energy security.
