“Chairman of the Management Committee Alexei Miller said that this morning at 8.45 Moscow time (05:45 GMT) construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was fully completed,” Gazprom announced on its social media accounts Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his backers in Washington have accused Russia of pursuing the project in order to punish Kiev by cutting it out of essential natural gas transit fees that would normally be collected through its territory.

It seems that since the project started in 2016, Russia became ever more determined as US sanctions seeking to halt the project grew – at one point even outfitting Gazprom ships to become pipe-laying vessels after a European company bowed out.

Earlier this week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared efforts by the US to stop construction through political pressure and sanctions an utter failure. He said “there is still a full-frontal attack, in spite of everything, on Nord Stream 2,” even though “everyone knows the Americans have realized [it will be completed].”

 

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