Germany has decided to suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops to recognize the self – proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The decision comes as Berlin, which has long opposed the withdrawal of the plug from the project despite pressure from the United States and some European countries. Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky called for an “immediate” halt to the project.

“In light of the most recent developments, we need to re-examine the situation with regard to Nord Stream 2,” Chancellor Olaf Scholes told a news conference with his Irish counterpart, adding that the finance ministry would reconsider. This is the certification process for suspension. Scholes said the decision was in response to Moscow’s recognition of the independence of two separate territories in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, which marked a “grave violation of international law.” “The international community must now respond to this unilateral, incomprehensible and unjustifiable move by the Russian president,” he told reporters in Berlin. Without consequences “.

Nord Stream 2, Europe’s most divisive power project, is designed to double the amount of gas flowing directly from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, as well as traditional transit routes such as Ukraine, or Belarus and Poland. Russia supplies about 40% to 50% of Europe’s gas consumption, about 200 billion cubic meters per year. Nord Stream 1 has a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters, which will double when 2 becomes operational. A Russian deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, downplayed the impact of Germany’s decision, saying Moscow was not afraid of anything and “did not believe in tears”, according to the national news agency Tass.