KIEV, December 23 / TASS /. Ukrainian CEO Naftogaz, Yury Vitrenko, believes that the West should impose sanctions not only on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but also on the first Nord Stream project, he said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine published on Thursday.

“We just proposed this idea (to sanction Nord Stream 1 as well – TASS). <...> We said: Look, we are not against sanctions against Nord Stream as part of the West’s response to a full-scale invasion (The West and Ukraine make statements on Russia’s alleged intentions to invade Ukraine – TASS), but we mean North Stream 1, not Nord Stream 2. As for Nord Stream 2, it should already be under sanctions, ”he said.

In general, Vitrenko does not consider it sufficient to only impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2.

“Here’s a new trick: [they say] let’s tie the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 to the comprehensive invasion. But we declare that this is a very wrong approach, it is dishonest, “he said.

Kiev believes Russia is not only threatening Ukraine, but all of Europe. Vitrenko believes that the adequate answer is not sanctions against the gas pipeline, but rather the provision of military aid for the Ukrainian side.

“Even if some sanctions are seen as part of this military aid, they should mean that cooperation between the West and Russia as such will be terminated. That is the isolation of Russia. Then we should go through Nord Stream 1, Yamal-Europe, TurkStream – it’s about completely different things. In such a situation, we should talk about the West simply cutting off Russia from itself and providing military aid to Ukraine, which will fight with Russia, “said the head of Naftogaz.

Nord Stream project

The 1,224 km long Nord Stream gas pipeline leads from Vyborg to the German city of Greifswald (state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). To date, Nord Stream is the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world and is operated by Nord Stream AG. The laying of the pipeline began in April 2010 and commercial gas delivery began on October 8, 2012. The design capacity is 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The total investment in the project was 7.4 billion euros.

Ukraine’s allegations

Western countries and the Kiev regime have recently been spreading allegations of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these speculations as an “empty and groundless” escalation of tensions. He did not rule out the likelihood of provocations in support of such allegations and warned that attempts to resolve the crisis in south-eastern Ukraine by military means would have grave consequences.