The United States is tightening its pressure on the parties involved in the "Northern Torrent 2" project to transport Russian gas to Europe, as reported by German News Agency, today, Saturday.

The agency quoted an unnamed source in the US administration that the White House was contacting European companies participating in the aforementioned project "in order to warn them and give them time to exit (from the project)," adding: "This pipeline will not see the light."

Previously, there were reports of threats from the United States received by European companies related to the "Northern Torrent 2" project, including news last August that a number of US senators sent a letter to Faehrhafen Sassnitz GmbH, the director of the German port of Mukran, threatening them. This company said that it would be subject to sanctions if it did not stop using the port as a logistical base for the "Northern Torrent 2" project.

The German government has repeatedly declared that the US cross-border sanctions are illegal, noting that Berlin considers "Northern Torrent 2" an economic project, and it nonetheless insists that Ukraine remain a transit country to transport Russian natural gas to Europe.

In early June, the Republican Party presented a bill to the US Senate on expanding the sanctions related to the project, while the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, confirmed that his ministry would include the "Northern Torrent 2" and "Turkish Torrent" projects on the list of projects subject to the validity of the "confrontation law." The enemies of America through sanctions, "which was adopted by the United States in the year 2917 to punish countries that conclude major deals with Moscow to buy Russian weapons and military equipment.

On November 4, Bloomberg reported that representatives of both houses of Congress had reached an agreement that expanded US sanctions against "Northern Torrent 2" could target insurance and certification companies cooperating with Russian ships working to complete the pipeline construction.

Source: TASS

By:Nadeemy Haded