NordStream2opening

the pipeline operator tells Ukraine’s state news agency. Analysts say Gazrpom is driving up EU prices to justify opening Nord Stream 2 this fall.

said Yuriy Vitrenko, the Chairman of Naftogaz, speaking with reporters in Washington. “Very positive — there is bipartisan support,” he told VOA of his meetings in the US Congress. “Both major U.S. parties, Democrats and Republicans, support our fight against Nord Stream 2. They understand that the project should never become operational.”

 “Gazprom has always stressed its readiness to continue gas transit through Ukraine, including after 2024, based on economic feasibility,” Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said, TASS reported. “The matter of new volumes of gas purchases from Russia for transit through Ukraine should be resolved on the basis of market conditions and at market prices.” After the 2024 contract expiration, Ukraine risks losing $2 billion a year in transit revenue.

eliciting a wave of criticism from German Greens and US Republicans. Critics complained of a lack of language specifying when and how Germany would take the costly move of shutting down the pipeline to respond to Russian pressure on Ukraine. On Monday, Washington briefers on the transaction said that the language was left deliberately vague so as not to help Russia prepare countermeasures.

 Bloomberg reports from Washington, citing U.S. officials. Conditions are to include: sanctions if Russia tries to use the pipeline as a weapon against Ukraine; Germany would lobby Russia to extend Gazprom’s Ukraine gas transit contract beyond its 2024 expiration; and the US and Germany would push for $1 billion worth of investments in a ‘Green Fund’ to help Ukraine’s move to cleaner energy. Germany would commit an initial $175 million to the fund and appoint a special envoy to support