MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The company - operator of the Nord Stream 2 project, Nord Stream 2 AG, laid about 700 km in total for two lines of the gas pipeline (1,224 km each), Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday, according to the Ministry of Energy.

"In total, around 700 km of the gas pipeline have been laid along both lines," Novak said after a telephone conversation with Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany Peter Altmaier. Novak noted that the project is being implemented in accordance with the schedule.

During the conversation, the ministers also discussed various aspects of energy cooperation, including the latest amendments to the EU Gas Directive and implementation of Nord Stream 2, as well as the results of the trilateral Russia-EU-Ukraine meeting in Brussels on January 21 on the future transit of gas through Ukraine.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages construction of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters of gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The pipeline is expected to be launched before the end of 2019.