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Ideas to resurrect the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany are the “wrong direction of discussion”, Germany’s outgoing economy and energy minister Robert Habeck said on Monday.
“The Ukrainians are still under the aggression of Russia. So I think talking about the potential of Nord Stream 2 or Nord Stream 1, if it’s going to be repaired, is completely the wrong direction of discussion,” Habeck said in Brussels today, as carried by Reuters.
Gas leaks in each of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea were discovered at the end of September 2022.
Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September of 2022, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.
But speculation has intensified in recent weeks that a revival of the pipelines could be a part of a deal for the end of the war in Ukraine.
In early March, the Financial Times reported that a former spy and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin was seeking talks to revive the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe with the backing of U.S. investors.
The outreach to the Trump Administration regarding Nord Stream is part of backchannel efforts to reach a deal on an end to the war in Ukraine and revive broader economic relations between the U.S. and Russia, according to FT’s sources with knowledge of the talks.
In response to the reports, Germany’s Economy Ministry early this month said that it is neither willing nor planning to discuss a restart to the pipeline.
“Independence from Russian gas is of strategic importance to the German government in terms of security policy and it is sticking to it,” the ministry said.
Estonia’s Foreign Minister Tsahkna, for his part, said “The right place for Nord Stream 2 is at the bottom of the sea, in pieces, not on the EU’s energy market.”
“Instead, we are welcoming gas supplies from the United States to the EU, not Russia,” the minister added.
