Angela Merkel defends the Russian-German project 'Nord Stream II'

The former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke about the Russian-German project "North Stream II" and said that the project, despite criticism, was promising.

Although the Nord Stream 2 project was suspended due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Merkel defended the decision of the then German government to do such a project.

"I did not believe in change through trade, but in connecting through trade with the second largest nuclear power in the world," Merkel said.

She said it was not an easy decision, “the thesis at the time was: if Nord Stream 2 is operational, Putin will no longer supply us with gas through Ukraine or attack it. Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, when gas was not yet flowing through Nord Stream 2. In this sense, gas was not a weapon," said the former chancellor.

Among other things, she justified the project for economic reasons, "the German economy at that time decided to transport gas from Russia because it was economically cheaper than liquid gas from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and later from the United States ", he reports Tagesschau.

Also, the former chancellor explained that the government was ready to support the construction of two liquefied natural gas terminals in Germany with taxpayers' money. But, until the last working day of the government, this project was not launched as there were no importers who would reserve capacity for a long term due to the high price.

Read too Germany hits Russia, suspends the certification of the gas pipeline 'Nord Stream II'

At the end of the interview, Merkel admitted that she did not have much influence on Putin during the end of her term.

"It was clear that I would not be in office for a long time, so I declared that various attempts to influence him would have no effect. Putin is no longer willing to hold a summit in the so-called Normand format with representatives of Russia. "Ukraine, Germany and France, on the other hand, failed to create an additional European-Russian format for discussing the European security order," Merkel said.

Asked if she could be a mediator in ending the war in Ukraine, Merkel was not optimistic.

"My departure could be a contribution, like the elections in France, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the delay in the implementation of the Minsk agreement," concluded Merkel. /Telegraph/