Zakharova: Germany under pressure from U.S. over energy policy towards Russia

Germany is under tremendous pressure from the United States, which demands Berlin revise its energy policy towards Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Obviously, it is a colossal pressure over energy matters. When day after day the U.S. ambassador in Berlin threatens the German people and government demanding they revise the energy policy towards Russia, make a choice in favor of U.S. energy sources, abandoning mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia," she said in an interview with the Vecher (Evening) with Vladimir Solovyov program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

DPA reported on June 2 citing the press secretary of the US embassy in Berlin that Ambassador Richard Grenell had resigned after two years in office. Grenell’s role in building the U.S.-German relations is seen as questionable in Germany as he has been accused of meddling with Germany’s domestic affairs. Thus, in mid-January 2019, the U.S. diplomat reportedly circulated letters to German companies warning them of possible sanctions in case they continued to work on the Nord tream-2 project.

On Thursday, a group of U.S. senators submitted a bill that would expand the U.S. sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to Bloomberg news agency, the new sanctions will be imposed on the insurance companies that work with Russian vessels on completion of the project.

Klaus Ernst, chairman of the Bundestag’s (German parliament) committee on economic affairs and energy, told TASS earlier Germany and the European Union should think about steps to be taken in response to the United States’ plans to expand the sanctions against Nord Stream -2. "The United States’ actions on that matter should not be taken as an act of friendship any longer, as they rather constitute interference into Germany’s and the EU’s sovereignty," he said.