Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a reality: U.S. envoy

A senior U.S. envoy told Reuters that  he had delivered reassurances to Ukraine and Poland on mitigating any threat posed by Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but he added that the project is a"reality.”

Amos Hochstein, the State Department's senior adviser for energy security, said that there  was "breathing room" until 2024 to ensure Ukraine kept its status as a gas transit country. He also urged Kyiv to move towards alternative energy sources.

Late August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy insisted during a press conference with German Chancellor Angelina Merkel, that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a “dangerous weapon,” that poses threat to Ukraine.  Kyiv has been opposing this U.S.-German deal in July which allowed the completion of the $11-billion Nord Stream 2 project.

 "I am 100% confident that we will do everything we can, and that the Germans are committed to do everything they can, to make sure that that transit continues,” Hochstein told Reuters.

Gazprom, a Russian company, completed the construction of the pipeline on Friday. The pipeline will take natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.The company began the construction five years ago but the progress was halted at the the end of 2019 when then U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions.

The new route, with the existing Nord Stream pipeline, will double annual export capacity to 110 billion cubic metres, which is around half of Russia's total gas exports to Europe a year.