German chancellor Angela Merkel has said Moscow will face more EU sanctions if it uses its energy resources as a "geopolitical weapon" against Ukraine, as she sought to soothe Kiev's fears over a new pipeline linking Russia and Germany.
Kiev believes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea will permit Russia to act with a freer hand in its undeclared war against Ukraine, by allowing it to reduce or halt gas flow through Ukrainian territory while continuing to supply Germany and other powerful EU states and lucrative markets in western Europe.
Poland and other eastern EU members share Ukraine's concerns, but their faint hopes of scuppering Nord Stream 2 were dashed when the US admitted last month that it was now too late to prevent completion of the €9.5 billion project.
Dr Merkel insists the pipeline is an economic scheme that should not be stopped for political reasons, but acknowledged during talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday that Kiev's fears must be addressed.
“During talks in Moscow [on Friday] I spoke about this problem. And we said very clearly that in the European framework we would seek new sanctions if Russia tries to use this gas pipeline as a weapon,” Dr Merkel said in Kiev.
“We agree with the Americans that gas must not be used as a geopolitical weapon and it will come down to whether there is an extension to the transit contract via Ukraine... I spoke to the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] about this, that we want the agreement to be extended as soon as possible,” she added.
Widespread anger
Mr Zelenskiy said his concerns had not been allayed, however, amid widespread anger in Ukraine that Germany is deepening energy ties with Russia seven years after it annexed Crimea and fomented a war in eastern Ukraine that has now killed 14,000 people.
“We see Nord Stream 2 solely through the prism of security and we regard it as a dangerous political weapon in the Kremlin’s hands,” he said, while describing assurances offered by Berlin and Washington as “vague”.
“I don’t think anyone can dispute that the chief risks from the completion of Nord Stream 2 are borne by Ukraine... So I want to understand what Ukraine will receive and what our state could lose after the gas transit deal expires in 2024, and who is giving concrete guarantees to Ukraine.”
Dr Merkel – who is due to step down next month after 16 years in office – said she expected Germany to continue co-operating with Ukraine "in the same spirit" after her departure, and to keep working alongside France to negotiate a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia through the so-called Normandy talks.
“Without that we’d have no contact whatsoever,” she added.
