FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is seen on the pipe cap at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, near the town of Kingisepp, Leningrad region, Russia June 5, 2019. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

RIGA (Reuters) - Germany’s defense minister said it is now unrealistic to think that Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which faces opposition from many European countries and the United States, could be stopped.

Speaking to journalists in the Latvian capital Riga, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is also the leader of Germany’s governing conservative party, said the project is an important element for ensuring Germany’s energy supply.

She reiterated the German position that the legal framework for the pipeline needed to include safeguards for Ukraine, which fears it could be cut off as a transit route for Russian gas once the new pipeline, crossing the Baltic Sea, is in place.