"We are following these statements. We see that each time such a statement is released, two more statements emerge, which slam such proposals as absurd", Peskov told reporters, commenting on the calls to suspend the project.
He added, answering a question, that the Kremlin does not see any risk of Germany blocking Nord Stream 2's construction.
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the project will be completed despite US threats of sanctions.
Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom and several EU energy companies, including Uniper, Wintershall, Engie, OMV, and Royal Dutch Shell. It is set to double the existing Nord Stream capacity to 110 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
Nord Stream Under Pressure
The construction of the pipeline was halted in December 2019, when there was just 160 km left to build after the US threatened to impose "fatal" sanctions on the Switzerland-based contractor AllSeas, which was carrying out the last stages of the work.
Washington has been putting pressure on Nord Stream 2, claiming that the pipeline may pose a security risk to Europe, while Moscow and Berlin view the US actions as an example of unfair competition meant to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas to Europe.
The project was also put at risk as Germany is considering introducing sanctions against Moscow due to the case of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who is now undergoing treatment in Berlin. According to German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the possibility of sanctions being imposed against the Nord Stream 2 project will depend on the cooperation between the two countries on the issue.
Alexei Navalny Case
On 20 August, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fell gravely ill during a flight to Moscow. After an emergency landing in the city of Omsk, he was taken to a local hospital, where he later went into a coma.
After testing his samples, Russian medics found no traces of poison, noting that Navalny's condition might have been caused by an abrupt drop of glucose in his blood.
After a request from his family, Navalny was sent to the Charite hospital in Berlin. Following his testing, German doctors claimed they had found traces of a substance from a group of cholinesterase inhibitors in his body, which the Russian medics denied. Berlin later claimed there were traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group in Navalny's tests.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that if Russia does not provide proof of its non-involvement in the poisoning (which remains to be proven), Berlin would consider the Kremlin as the culprit in the alleged attack against Navalny.
Moscow has refused to comment until it sees information on the alleged poisoning from Germany, which Berlin has not provided so far.
