European companies that resume laying pipe this spring for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline “risk significant sanctions,”

European companies that resume laying pipe this spring for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline “risk significant sanctions,” Nicole Gibson, deputy director of the US State Department’s office for Europe, warned at the gas transit conference in Brussels. Two months ago, when pipe laying in the Baltic was suspended for the winter, Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany, sent letters to European companies warning them of the sanctions risk. Asked about next steps, Gibson said Tuesday US policy is not to discuss sanctions before they are officially announced. Saying that the US supports “robust gas transit through Ukraine’s gas transit system,” she said: “Some people say it is a fait accompli that Nord Stream 2 will be done. We don’t see it that way…We call on European leaders to make sure Nord Stream 2 is not implemented.”