US investor Stephen P. Lynch has presented the idea of the US side purchasing “Nord Stream 2“ to the German Ministry of Economy, The New York Times reported.
According to the newspaper, Lynch had previously presented this idea to the administration of President Donald Trump. The investor believes that the US “would like to control a key energy infrastructure facility“. “Despite years of international tension over the pipeline, he has proposed to possibly resume its operation and supply natural gas to Germany“, the newspaper wrote.
According to the newspaper, German authorities have been skeptical about the plan. The ministry did not respond to The New York Times' request for comment. Lynch believes that the Germans themselves may once again want to buy cheap Russian gas. According to According to him, transferring the pipeline to the control of an American legal entity will “strengthen Western oversight of gas sales from Russia“ and Europe will not have to “do business directly with Russian companies“.
“EU representatives seem to be worried that companies and politicians could again be tempted by cheap Russian energy, especially if the fighting in Ukraine ends and Moscow moves towards further rapprochement with Washington“, the publication writes.
At the end of March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington were discussing the topic of “Nord Stream“. The construction of “Nord Stream 2“ was completed on September 10, 2021. It was initially planned to be completed by the end of 2019, but due to US sanctions, the work was delayed. The pipeline consists of two lines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, which run from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.