"We support the chancellor's policy —we urge [Russia] to provide clear answers, on the one hand, and we need a clear shared stance in Europe, on the other hand ... As for the Nord Stream 2 this is not for the government to decide, it is a private commercial project. One thing has nothing to do with the other, as we see it. Although it has to be said that the project may not be seen in positive light in this case," Soeder said on a live stream of N24 broadcaster.
Soeder heads the Christian Social Union, a sister party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
The Nord Stream 2 project aims at laying a 745-mile-long twin pipeline that will carry up to 55 billion cubic meters (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.