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Added on the 15/07/2020 17:19:35 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
President Joe Biden has authorized the United States to impose sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project in retaliation for Moscow's military pressure against Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price says at a briefing. "We have now taken complementary actions, using our own authorities to ensure that Nord Stream 2 is off the table, just as we said it would be," Price says. SOUNDBITE
Images show the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, through which a third of Russian gas supplies passes to reach the EU. Closed since 11 July for a 10-day routine maintenance, Europeans fear that Moscow won't turn the tap back on Thursday 21 July. In previous weeks, Russia had already cut 60% of its gas deliveries via the pipeline. The 1,224-kilometre (760-mile) long Nord Stream 1 is a system of twin pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, stretching from Russia's Vyborg to Lubmin in northeastern Germany. From there, a network of pipelines transports the gas into the European grid. IMAGES of the pipeline Nord Stream 1
The United States is confident Germany will not open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with Russia if Moscow invades Ukraine, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland says at a State Department briefing. "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," Nuland, the State Department's number three official, tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
The Ukrainian government was not involved in the sabotage last year of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, the country's defence minister says. "This is not our activity", Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tells reporters in Stockholm ahead of a meeting with EU defence ministers, in response to a report in The New York Times that US officials had seen new intelligence indicating a "pro-Ukrainian group" was responsible for the sabotage. SOUNDBITE
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warns that the eurozone could fall into recession next year in the case of a total shutdown of Russian gas supplies. The "downside scenario" for 2023 foresees negative growth in the case of a "total shutdown of all Russian gas supply" and energy rationing in the eurozone, she said, after the ECB unleashed a record rate hike. SOUNDBITE