"If it comes to sanctions, it will be a direct attack on the sovereignty of the European Union and a fatal signal for Paris’s efforts to achieve peace," said the committee’s Chairman Oliver Hermes.

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations regards Washington’s sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as an attack on the sovereignty of the European Union and an unfavorable signal for the Paris agreements to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. This is according to a statement of the committee released on Tuesday.

"An attempt of influence from the part of the United States would not only be an unfriendly act, it would inflict enormous damage on transatlantic relations built on mutual respect," he added.

Hermes stressed that in terms of the legal framework, the EU fulfilled all the conditions and has all the necessary permits for the project.

According to the Committee’s statement, Washington’s sanctions aimed at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline may throw into question the implementation of joint projects with Berlin for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

"The Americans want to sell LNG to Europe, the construction of the corresponding terminals is also planned in Germany. If the pressure aimed at competitors on the market intensifies, the enthusiasm for joint projects with the U.S. may vanish," Hermes said.

The Committee also highlights that US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 "are again taken without consultation and against the voiced will of the most important European allies." Such actions harm the image of the United States in Europe, German industrialists say.

The Committee warned that rising tensions between Washington and Moscow would result in higher energy prices for consumers in Europe. "Markets will respond to tensions accordingly," Hermes predicts.

"We have already seen this when the US imposed sanctions on Russian aluminum producers in April 2018 without discussing it with the EU. Then the price hike was so high that the sanctions were consequently lifted."

On Monday, it became known that the US legislators obliged the administration to impose sanctions on the Russian gas pipelines (Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream), in order to ensure "European energy security."

Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream