Russian MFA: US statements about Arctic LNG-2 tantamount to threats

The Nord Stream affair began "with exactly the same statements by the US president and representatives of the US Department of State about the need for destroying these projects".

On November 2, the US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG-2 and set January 31, 2024 as the deadline to finalize any deals related to the energy project. Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson said at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum that the US sanctions against the Arctic LNG-2 project are a sign of his company’s professionalism.

Arctic LNG-2 is Novatek’s second LNG project. It envisages building three LNG production lines with a capacity of 6.6 million tons per year each and producing up to 1.6 million tons per year of stable gas condensate. The project will source gas from the Utrenneye field on the Gydan Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. The first, second and third lines are scheduled to go live in 2023, 2024 and 2026, respectively.

Washington's statements regarding the Arctic LNG-2 project (photo) are tantamount to threats, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing. She drew attention to remarks by US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Geoffrey Pyatt, that Washington was pressing for the termination of the Arctic LNG-2 project.

The Nord Stream affair began "with exactly the same statements by the US president and representatives of the US Department of State about the need for destroying these projects."

"The explosions of these infrastructure projects followed six months later. Now there have been more threats against infrastructure projects in the same sphere," Zakharova said.

According to Zakharova, the United States has embarked on the path of intimidation and realization of threats against infrastructure projects.

"This is about competitive preferences for the US. They are unable to achieve them in a competitive environment, they are losing this competition, they are ruining everything that stops them from getting ahead," the diplomat added.

On Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) raised questions about the 2022 apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 as apparent revelations of a Ukrainian soldier’s involvement have surfaced.

“Senator, now if this is true, it looks like it is true, all the evidence pointing to this, then why should the American taxpayers send another dime to Ukraine?” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said. “I guess Ukraine was OK with harming Europe, as long as they hurt Russia, too.”

“Yeah, the truth is, Laura, is that we shouldn’t be sending any more money to Ukraine,” Hawley replied. “And what else is true is that the Biden administration needs to come clean to the American people about what they know. We’re learning now from these news reports that our government had advance warning about the Nord Stream 2 bombing, that our government knew that it was likely the Ukrainians that did it. And the same newspaper has reported that those Ukrainian special forces that apparently carried out the bombing may have been trained by the CIA.”

“So, what is going on here?” he continued. “I think it’s time that Joe Biden leveled with the American people.”

Later in the segment, the Missouri Republican expressed his desire to know if the United States played a role in a Nord Stream 2 pipeline bombing.

“We need to know how every dime has been spent in Ukraine,” Hawley said. “Has any of our money gone towards the Nord Stream 2 bombing? Are there American troops or CIA agents on the ground right now in Ukraine? We need to know the facts here. Not a dime more for Ukraine. And every dime that we’ve already spent needs to be accounted for right now.”

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