Mike Pompeo warns companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 and the TurkStream projects

Washington, July 16 - Neftegaz.RU. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on July 15 that the companies working at Nord Stream 2 and the 2nd line of Turk Stream energy pipeline projects are at risk of US sanctions.

Congress 2 years ago passed the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Caatsa), to try to stop Russia from completing the pipeline.

Persons making such investments or engaging in such activities, including but not limited to financing partners, as well as pipe-laying vessels and related engineering service providers engaging in the deployment of the pipelines, may be subject to sanctions pursuant to Caatsa´s Section 232.

The U.S. government is convinced that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is nearing completion, threatens to give Moscow economic and political leverage over Europe and undermines EU energy security. That goes for the 2nd line of TurkStream too, the pipeline that connects Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea, for onward transmission to Europe.

"Get out now or risk the consequences," stated Pompeo, adding that investors in Nord Stream 2 and the 2nd line of TurkStream pipelines could be "put at risk of US sanctions" under the Caatsa.

"Companies aiding and abetting Russia's malign influence projects will not be tolerated," he noted. Gas pipeline projects are "Kremlin's key tools to exploit and expand European dependence on Russian energy" and a means of damaging the transatlantic security, Pompeo also claimed.

Mike Pompeo is set to visit Denmark on July 22 to discuss the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, among other issues.

To read the article in Russian.