Rada Deputy Chairperson Oksana Syroyid has issued an alarmist warning to Kiev's Western partners about the "threat" she says is posed by the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Russian giant Gazprom and five Western European energy firms.
"People don't understand that there is an abyss between Russia and the civilized world, between despotism and freedom, and that these ideas are not at all compatible, because one cannot trade in values," the lawmaker said in an interview with Ukraine's Channel 112.
"Russia will win victories, and we do not know when it will stop, because today, the Nord Stream 2 project is a weapon that Russia has already delivered to Berlin; and the only question is when she will use this weapon," Syroyid added.
Syroyid made her remarks amid claims by Ukrainian oil and gas transit company Naftogaz executives last week that Nord Stream 2 would "violate EU legislation." Kiev has expressed fears that the construction of the 55 billion cubic meter pipeline will deprive Ukraine of several billion dollars in transit earnings.
Germany signed off on construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline earlier this year, and broke ground on its terminal for the project in April. Finland and Sweden have also given approval, with Denmark now the last hold out in Europe yet to give permission for the construction of the pipeline through its territorial waters.
'Our Politicians Have Nothing Better to Do'
Also last week, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis met with Ukrainian deputy prime minister Volodymyr Kistion, who came to Prague to ask for Czech support in obstructing the construction of Nord Stream 2.
However, Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, has said that he does not understand what Kiev is trying to gain by lobbying Prague on a project the Czech Republic has nothing to do with.
"The European Commission is already criticizing Nord Stream 2, but that is not stopping the Germans from pushing the project through. Its fate does not depend on countries like the Czech Republic, Ukraine or Poland. It depends on how serious American pressure will be, and whether the Europeans are ready to resist this pressure. This is the only circumstance which, as far as I understand it, can prevent Nord Stream 2 from being completed," Pogrebinsky explained, speaking to Sputnik Czechia.
Nord Stream 2 envisions the construction of two gas pipelines running from the Russian coast north of St. Petersburg through the Baltic Sea to a hub in northeastern Germany. From there, the gas can be delivered to the countries of Central and Western Europe, including the Netherlands, France, and the UK. The project is a joint venture between Gazprom and West European energy concerns Uniper, Wintershall, OMV AG, Engie and Royal Dutch Shell.