If Nord Stream 2 is inevitable, let the Germans suffer losses for excluding Ukraine from transit - Kuleba
If Nord Stream 2 is destined to be a realized project, then at least let Russia suffer losses from sanctions until the end, like its German partners, which Berlin should treat with understanding.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmitry Kuleba stated this in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“To what extent are US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 a panacea for us? Everything is heading towards the fact that the project will still be implemented, only with minor delays,” the deputy prime minister was asked.
“Firstly, US sanctions were a weighty argument that persuaded the Russians to negotiate gas transit. Secondly, in general, no sanctions are a panacea in themselves.
But it is absolutely indisputable that these sanctions are slowing down the construction of Nord Stream 2 not for a few months, but for a much longer period. And it is also an unconditional fact that the construction of Nord Stream 2 is becoming even more expensive.
And if Russia decides to spend huge, unsupported sums to bypass Ukraine in matters of gas transit, let it spend. The more they spend on pointless projects, the better,” Kuleba encourages himself.
At the same time, he assured that the sanctions are directed exclusively against Russia and, despite the fact that Germany is also suffering, Berlin must understand that this is not an anti-German policy at all, but a pro-Ukrainian one.
“We have a very honest position with our German colleagues. We tell them: “Dear people, we really love you, we are very grateful to you for everything, you are our reliable friend and partner, but there is one issue on which we have a fundamental difference and therefore let’s agree: we will not agree regarding the Nord Stream - 2".
And we honestly and publicly opposed this project, because it is a matter of our strategic and national security.
We understand the dissatisfaction of our German partners, but we are not opposing Germany in this story, we are opposing the plans of the Russian Federation to exclude Ukraine from the matrix of gas transportation to the European Union.
This is not an anti-German policy, it is a pro-Ukrainian policy that protects us from Russia’s aggressive actions in the gas sector,” says the Deputy Prime Minister.
What will happen in five years, when the Germans and Russians compensate for the costs, Kuleba will probably already resign, and Ukraine will be left without transit, the Ukrainian “diplomat” did not explain.
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