Ukraine was “quietly urged” by the Biden administration to hush its criticism of the US& German agreement regarding the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project expected Wednesday, with insiders arguing that Kiev’s opposition to the deal may damage relations between Ukraine and the US, Politico said quoting unnamed sources.
Politico quoted officials indicating that criticizing the forthcoming agreement could damage the Washington-Kyiv bilateral relationship.
The details of the alleged agreement are still unknown even to the Kremlin, Putin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Nearly complete, controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been a stepping stone in US-German relations in recent years since Berlin sees it as key to its energy security while Washington considers it as a Russian power play America must stop.
Kyiv, being in the middle of the issue, fears that a completed pipeline would be an economic body blow, minimizing its role as a transit nation for energy flowing from Russia into Europe although soon-to-be-revealed deal allegedly stipulates slapping sanctions on Russia if it tries to use energy as a weapon against Ukraine.
Oleksiy Arestovich, a freelance adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, has previously accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of betraying Kiev’s interests in favour of Russia during her talks with Zelensky on 12 July.
Zelensky earlier slammed Nord Stream 2 as “a weapon against Ukraine that will ostensibly become a weapon against all of Europe in the future”, urging Kiev’s western allies to torpedo the project.
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