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The U.S. is preparing to impose the sanctions against European companies, which participate in the financing of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as EU observer reported.

It is specified that the sanctions risk heightening tensions amid an ongoing dispute on US tariffs on German cars. However, America states that the pipeline poses a strategic risk of Russian energy dependence.

Earlier Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany stated that German companies constructing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline can face sanctions.

Besides, the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress unanimously adopted the resolution, which stands against completion of the Russian gas pipeline “Nord Stream 2.” Moreover, U.S. State Department stated that EU should say 'no' to the Nord Stream 2 project, with the gas pipeline running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, because of the recent act of the Russian aggression in the Kerch Strait.

Gazprom and its partners intended to begin the realization of the Nord Stream 2 project, which costs ten billion dollars. It is expected that the 1,200-km gas pipeline will be laid through the Baltic Sea, and will connect Russia and Germany bypassing Ukraine, Poland, and Baltic countries. The capacity of the gas pipeline will be twice increased compared to that of the first Nord Stream. The construction is estimated to be completed by the end of 2019.

Ukraine is adamantly opposed to the construction by calling it politically motivated and suggesting the EU to create a consortium with the involvement of European companies to manage the existing more efficient transportation route through Ukraine. A number of EU countries have expressed their disagreement with the Nord Stream 2 project in particular Poland and Lithuania.

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