US President Donald Trump said earlier it was not right that Germany would be paying billions of dollars to Russia. Instead, he has been trying to force Europe to buy more US liquefied natural gas, saying this would diversify EU’s energy supply.
"I was never a fan of Nord Stream 2. But the truth is the construction has been underway for a long time now and it cannot be so easily stopped. Trump’s threats are no reason for that," Oettinger told Der Spiegel magazine.
READ MORE: Austria Believes in Success of Nord Stream 2 Project — Russian Ambassador
The United States has adopted a provision that allows it to sanction countries involved in the project to bring an annual 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas across the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.