Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has proposed to the European Union (EU) to freeze the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline before the parliamentary elections in Russia, Reuters reports.
According to him, the pipeline increasingly attracts the attention of European politicians in the context of discussing new sanctions due to repressions against the opposition in the Russian Federation, but Germany still stubbornly defends it, calling it commercial. “Freezing can be a trade-off,” Landsbergis said.
The minister explained that he was not proposing to completely block construction, but only to suspend it for a while and “do it when we deal with the democratically elected Russian government.” The minister added that Europe will not be able to maintain its unity if it does not send a “correct signal” to Russia with a new package of sanctions.
Currently, the construction of Nord Stream 2 has not been completed; a section of the gas pipeline is being laid in the territorial waters of Denmark. Work in the waters of the kingdom is scheduled to be completed in April 2021. In general, Gazprom expects that the gas pipeline will be completed by the end of this year.
Parliamentary elections in Russia are to be held on a single voting day on September 19. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on them to be protected from “any attempts at external interference.”