"Blinken: USA may not be able to prevent Nord Stream 2 anymore

 In the dispute over the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, the USA admitted that it may not be able to prevent its completion. "Ultimately, those who try to build and complete the pipeline must decide," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview with CNN. The US wanted to ensure "that our stance, our opposition to the pipeline is correctly understood". 

At his first meeting with Germany's Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) in Brussels last week, Blinken reiterated and criticized the German-Russian gas pipeline, which divides Europe. 

The federal government is sticking to the project and criticizing the sanctions imposed and threatened by the USA. The German position was "unchanged", emphasized a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office on Monday. "Talks" are in progress with the US government. 

The Russian energy company Gazprom, the owner of the operating company of Nord Stream 2, expects to be able to complete the construction in the coming months."