MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The start of the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline is planned for 2018. It aims to deliver up to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to Germany annually via the Baltic Sea. Russian energy giant Gazprom has a shareholder agreement to extend the existing Nord Stream with partner European energy firms.
"The situation around all these pipelines is very politicized… The politicization of this topic is quite absurd. Russia has always been a reliable supplier of both oil and gas to the European Union, and there is no evidence of the contrary," Andrei Kelin said.
At the same time, the diplomat added that the Russian side had also been involved in the implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project and there had already been some progress, which increased the interest of the Russian side to it.
He added that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was still a high-priority project for Russia and there were no legal grounds for its cancellation by the European Commission, despite several objections within the EU body itself as well as from several EU member states.
A number of EU countries expressed their support for the Nord Stream 2, in particular, Austria and Germany, however some EU member states, such as Poland and Lithuania, are opposed to the gas pipeline due to concerns over increased energy dependence on Russia.
