Claims that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will increase Europe’s dependence on the supplies of Russian gas have no grounds, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, published on Monday.
"We see the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as an entirely commercial, mutually advantageous project. Allegations that it will make Europe more dependent on gas supplies from Russia are groundless. It would be more correct, in our opinion, to speak about positive interdependence, since Russia is also interested in seeing Europeans buy its products, energy resources in this case," the foreign minister noted.
The commissioning of the pipeline will ensure the diversification of gas transit routes without increasing the amount of it supplies at the present moment, the minister noted. "It will be possible to make sustainable gas supplies to European consumers via the shortest route, which will reduce the ‘ecological footprint’ from its transportation," the minister said.
"Besides, we are not giving up on the existing agreements on the supplies of Russian gas to Europe, at the same time the transit countries will have to compete in the future for the right of transit, instead of trying to dictate their own terms," Lavrov noted.
He also stressed that Nord Stream 2 will strengthen strategic energy security of Europe for decades to come. "That is exactly why the European capital cities interested in the project are strongly in favor of the completion of the gas pipeline construction," TASS cited the diplomat as saying.
