A Russian deputy foreign minister on Tuesday countered a move by Germany to suspend certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, saying Moscow fears nothing and “does not believe in tears”, the agency said. Russian news agency TASS.
The official, Andrey Rudenko, made the comment on Tuesday after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended certification of the pipeline that would pump Russian gas to Germany after Moscow formally recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
Russia is responsible for 1/3 of the gas consumed in Europe. Germany is at the center of pressure over the 1,200-kilometer Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was completed in September in an $11 billion mega-project.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has used the gas supply issue as a way to pressure Europe against sanctions.
As a consequence of the decision to suspend the pipeline, the price of the gas tariff is expected to increase in Europe in the coming days. The reduction in demand should harm the Russian government’s revenue.
The United States and the United Kingdom have already announced that they will introduce sanctions against the Russians. In the early hours of Tuesday (22), Japan also said that it “is ready” to join the US and other G7 nations in the application of sanctions. Germany and other European Union countries are due to decide on the use of sanctions at a meeting of European foreign ministers later on Tuesday.
Photos – The tension at the borders of Ukraine in images
Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine for the past year, amassing tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery at the country’s gates. The mobilization prompted warnings from US intelligence officials that a Russian invasion could be imminent.
The escalation in the years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine has set off the continent’s biggest security crisis since the Cold War, raising the specter of a dangerous confrontation between Western powers and Moscow.
(From Sarah Marsh and Madeline Chambers of Reuters and André Rigue and Eliza Mackintosh,
Source: CNN Brasil
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