Trump wants to whip Merkel for letting Nord Stream 2 happen, threatens her with sanctions

The companies involved in the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project may deal with restrictive measures against them, a spokesman for the US Department of State said. According to the US administration, the companies operating in the Russian energy export sector run the risk of facing sanctions.

Washington is convinced that the Nord Stream-2 will undermine the overall stability and energy security of the European Union. According to the American administration, the gas pipeline will become another tool for the Russian Federation to put pressure on European countries, especially Ukraine. In Russia, they understand that the project will split Europe, and the Russians will use it for their own interests, representatives of the US State Department said.

Nord Stream-2 has already been funded by German companies Wintershall (BASFn.DE) and Uniper (UN01.DE), international oil and gas company OMV Group (OMVV.VI), British-Dutch company Anglo-Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Engie (ENGIE. PA) of France.

Donald Trump, having arrived for the NATO summit in Brussels, called Germany a hostage to Russia's Nord Stream-2 project. According to Trump, it is unacceptable for Berlin to transfer "billions and billions of dollars" to Moscow for gas while Germany can not fulfil its promises to increase spending on the defence of the alliance. Later, speaking to reporters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured that German makes decisions independently and does not depend on anyone.

The Nord Stream-2 project stipulates for the construction of two branches of the gas pipeline from the Russian coast along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Germany. The total capacity of the 1,200-km-long system is to make up 55 billion cubic meters of gas per yea. The largest shareholder of the project is the Russian company Gazprom, which owns 51 percent in the project.