US ambassador to EU threatens sanctions to halt construction of pipeline Nord Stream 2

The US has “not deployed the full set of tools yet” to thwart the completion of the natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 that connects Germany with Russia, the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said according to an article by news agency Reuters. New sanctions on companies involved in the project could therefore follow suit, the article says, adding that Sondland said he hoped “organic” opposition within the EU would bring Nord Stream 2 to a halt anyway. “If that philosophy is not adopted and Nord Stream continues, then the president has many, many other tools at his disposal,” Sondland said.
In a different article on Forbes online, Ariel Cohen writes that the new LNG terminal in Germany is a “long overdue” decision needed to complement the controversial pipeline. “Diplomatic considerations aside, it is a logical step for Germany to diversify and expand its natural gas sources,” as the decarbonisation of its economy by 2050 means it has to consider all available options to smoothen the transition. “Despite a concerted push by the Trump administration, there is no guarantee that the new terminal would favour American gas over that of other producers,” Cohen says, arguing that US suppliers would have to compete with several other LNG producing countries and only prevail if they bring down prices, Cohen writes.

Read the Reuters article in English here and the Forbes article in English here.

See the CLEW factsheets Germany’s dependence on imported fossil fuels and Gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 links Germany to Russia, but splits Europe for background