You're reading: Ukraine calls for US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 as transit talks with Russia continue

A top Ukrainian official has called on the United States to impose sanctions on companies building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from northwestern Russia to Germany. His message comes as Kyiv and Moscow struggle to reach an agreement to extend a gas transit contract that expires at the end of December.

Dmytro Kuleba, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said Ukraine expects these sanctions to be passed.

Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate approved a new national defence bill that includes sanctions for companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 and Turk Stream, another Russian pipeline to Turkey. 

Currently, Russia transports gas to Europe through Ukraine’s network of pipelines. Nord Stream 2, which bypasses Ukraine, would deprive the country of roughly $3 billion of critically needed transit fees.

“It is not about Ukraine. It’s a much bigger issue. It’s about strategic balance in Europe. It’s about energy security of Europe,” Kuleba said, speaking at a German Marshall Fund event in Washington D.C. on Dec. 13. “It’s about balance in Central Europe and western countries. So Ukraine is only part of the puzzle of Nord Stream 2.” 

The bill has not yet been voted on. 

Germany has criticized the U.S. sanctions decision as interference. 

“European energy policy is decided in Europe, not the U.S. We reject in principle the foreign interference from abroad and extraterritorial sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted on Dec. 12. 

Turk Stream is slated to be officially opened by the Turkish and Russian presidents on Jan. 8, 2020. 

The 930-kilometer two-line pipeline will carry 31.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey annually. The second line is scheduled to be extended into Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia. 

Nord Stream 2 is nearing completion. The 1,200-kilometer pipe will double the volumes of Russian gas delivered to Germany to 100 billion cubic meters a year. 

Once operational, the two projects will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine, whose networks the country has used for transit for the past 10 years.

Read more: Despite Nord Stream 2, Ukraine aims to keep Russian gas transit

The countries’ transit contract will expire on Dec. 31, and the deadline to ink a new long-term deal was on Dec. 13. 

In an effort to support Ukraine, Germany announced that Nord Stream 2 will not be put into operation until Moscow agrees to extend the transit contract. 

Under time pressure, the gas deal has become a top-level priority discussed by the presidents of Ukraine and Russia in their last phone call on Nov. 25 and at their first face-to-face meeting in Paris on Dec. 9. 

Officials from Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz and Russian counterpart Gazprom concluded a round of negotiations in Vienna on Dec. 13 without an agreement. 

“The talks continue. Now it’s too early to speak about an agreed proposal,” Yuriy Vitrenko, Naftogaz’s executive director, wrote on Facebook.