Gabriel Slams US Intention to Target EU Gas Projects With Anti-Russian Sanctions

Washington's intention to target gas projects, in which the European Union is involved, with the new package of anti-Russian sanctions is "not right," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on said Friday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Earlier in June, the US Senate voted in favor of new sanctions against Russia over its alleged interference in the US presidential election in 2016. The new package of sanctions included the companies contributing to the construction of Nord Stream 2. The bill, which is yet to be approved by both the House of Representatives and the administration of US President Donald Trump, has already prompted criticism within the European Union.

"The use of sanctions mechanism by the US state in order to torpedo European projects is not right from my point of view," Gabriel told reporters.

The minister pointed out that decades ago, the gas market was liberalized, which allowed European enterprises to determine for themselves whose gas they want to purchase.

He also called the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline a European-Russian project, not German-Russian one.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters (over 1.9 trillion square feet) of Russian natural gas a year to the European Union across the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. Among the participating companies are E.ON, BASF, Wintershall and others. The pipeline's launch is planned for 2018.