Russia does not expect a quick solution to resume gas exports to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline - TASS quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying.
This issue is not on the agenda at the moment, Novak said when asked about the possibility of a gas flow recovery.
Previously, on March 4, Bild quoted a source as saying that the German government was considering options to prevent the operation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in the context of potential agreements between Russia and the US.
Nord Stream 2 is an ambitious Russian gas pipeline project, designed to double the capacity of Russian gas transportation to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
Although completed in September 2021, the project was suspended indefinitely by the German government shortly before Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
The main factors leading to the project's suspension include pressure from the US and Europe. Washington and Brussels are concerned that Nord Stream 2 will make Europe overly dependent on Russian gas, weakening the region's energy security.
The US has imposed many sanctions on companies involved in the project, causing the approval and operation process to stall.
After Russia launched a military campaign, Germany officially suspended the Nord Stream 2 operation license as a countermeasure.
In September 2022, both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were severely damaged by a series of explosions in the Baltic Sea. To date, the cause of the sabotage remains a mystery, with many theories about the culprit. Currently, both pipelines are not working.
Deputy Prime Minister Novak also confirmed that Russia has not had any negotiations with Germany on resuming oil supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline. When asked about this issue, he replied briefly: "No".
Druzhba is a pipeline that supplies oil to Belarus' oil refineries and transit to Europe, originating from Russia's Samara region, passing through the Bryansk region, then spreading to two branches ( north and south) through Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary.
Currently, the northern branch is only used to transport Kazakhstan's oil to Germany, while Russian oil is no longer supplied via this route.
