The European Union (EU) has officially imposed a complete ban on all transactions related to the Nord Stream gas pipeline, according to a notice from the European Council.
The EU is currently imposing a comprehensive ban on all transactions related to Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, including the supply of goods or services, to prevent the completion, maintenance, operation and use of these two pipelines in the future, the statement said.
In addition, the EU also prohibits imports of refined oil products made from Russian crude oil, even if those products are produced in third countries. However, this EU ban does not apply to products from Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The aim of the ban is to prevent Russian crude from going around the EU market via a third party.
In addition, the European Council also decided to end the special exemption allowing the Czech Republic to continue importing Russian oil.
Nord Stream is the world's largest offshore gas pipeline system, built to transport Russian gas from Siberia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
The Nord Stream pipeline went into operation in 2011. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was completed in 2021. The second pipeline has been sanctioned by the US.
If both Russian-German gas pipelines come into operation, it will meet 60% of Germany's gas consumption. Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 were built to bypass Ukraine, which has had a gas pipeline system on the Russian gas transit network to Germany since the Cold War.
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were believed to have been blown up by a group of Ukrainian divers, soldiers and intelligence officers in September 2022. Recently, there has been information about negotiations between Russia and the US to restore Nord Stream and has attracted the attention of US investors.
German and EU officials said that shortly after taking office, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about his desire to impose sanctions on this once-very-very-very-very-vision infrastructure to prevent the restoration of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2.
