"The Nord Stream 2, I think, will be implemented," Putin said at a meeting with Severstal steel and mining company’s CEO Alexey Mordashov, when naming major projects for which metallurgical production would be needed.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted "absolutely obvious" commercial advantage and economic advantage of pipeline that is two thousand kilometers shorter than the current one.
READ MORE: Merkel: Nord Stream 2 Not a Threat to EU Energy Security
Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture between Russian energy giant Gazprom and several major Western European energy companies. When completed, Nord Stream 2 delivers up to 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to Western Europe across the Baltic Sea via Germany annually. The project will run roughly along the same route as the existing Nord Stream pipeline network, which began its operations in 2011.
Several countries, including Ukraine and Poland, have stepped out against Nord Stream 2, out of fear of losing lucrative transit fees. The US, which has ambitious plans for selling its LNG to Europe, has also come out against the project.
