BERLIN
\nGermany has halted the opening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia\u2019s escalation of the crisis in Ukraine.
\nChancellor Olaf Scholz said he has ordered a rethink from regulators in light of what he called a changed security environment in Europe.
\nSpeaking in Berlin on Tuesday, Mr Scholz said this was a necessary administrative step so that the pipeline, a source of contention among European allies, \u201ccannot be certified at this time\u201d. Germany had previously resisted calls from the US and Britain, as well as Ukraine, to scrap the trans-Baltic pipeline over fears that Russia will use it as a geopolitical weapon.
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to Nord Stream 2 after Russia granted recognition to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and ordered troops there in a so-called peacekeeping mission.
\n\u201cThese are very difficult hours and days for Europe,\u201d said Scholz, who was meeting Irish leader Micheal Martin hours before the EU was set to unveil separate sanctions on Russia. He described Russia\u2019s actions as a \u201cgrave breach of international law\u201d but said diplomatic efforts would continue to prevent a further escalation.
\nConstruction on Nord Stream 2 was completed last September but it needs approval from German regulators before it can go into operation. Scholz inherited the dilemma from his predecessor, Angela Merkel, who supported Nord Stream 2 and described it as purely an economic project.
\nHe did not rule out a future opening date for the pipeline but said officials in Germany\u2019s Economy Ministry would rewrite their analysis of Germany\u2019s energy security in light of the latest developments.
\nEurope is under pressure to reduce its reliance on Russian gas for both political and environmental reasons, but Germany expects to rely on fossil fuel for an interim period as it switches off coal and nuclear plants.
\nIn Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Europe had not done enough on this front after Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do enough as Europeans to wean ourselves off Russian hydrocarbons, off Russian oil and gas,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure that we cut the umbilicus, we snip the drip feed into our bloodstream from Nord Stream.\u201d
\nJohnson was poised to announce a separate batch of sanctions on Tuesday after previously indicating that the UK would stop Russian companies raising money on London\u2019s financial markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN Germany has halted the opening of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia\u2019s escalation of the crisis in Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he has ordered a rethink from regulators in light of what he called a changed security environment in Europe. Speaking in Berlin on Tuesday, Mr Scholz said this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n