Germany remains committed to safeguarding Ukraine’s role as a transit route for gas into Europe, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a news conference in Warsaw on Sunday, commenting on growing pressure on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Nord Stream 2, which would bring Russian gas to Germany and bypass Ukraine, has still not been certified due to regulatory hurdles. At the same time there are fears of a Russian offensive on Ukraine.
“We continue to feel responsible for ensuring that Ukraine’s gas transit business remains successful. The same goes for future opportunities,” Scholz said at a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Scholz’s predecessor Angela Merkel had said that the political basis for operating Nord Stream 2 was Russia’s commitment to continue to use Ukraine as a gas transit route in the future as well.
“We will also help Ukraine be a country that will be a major source of renewable energy and the necessary production that results from that. We are in concrete talks around how we can help achieve that,” Scholz said.
