Kiev sees the soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe and bypassing Ukraine as "a dangerous geopolitical weapon", President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.
The Ukrainian leader was speaking at a joint press conference in Kiev with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded the pipeline fiercely opposed by Russian neighbours Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states.
The $12-billion pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea is set to double Russian natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest economy. It avoids Ukraine, depriving Kiev of essential gas transit fees.
"We view this project exclusively through the prism of security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin," Zelensky said.
He added that the main risks after its completion will be "borne by Ukraine" but that the pipeline will also be dangerous "for all of Europe".
The pipeline "will only play into the hands of the Russian Federation," he said.
For her part, Merkel said Berlin agrees with Washington that "gas must not be used as a geopolitical weapon".
"It will come down to if there is an extension to the transit contract via Ukraine -- the sooner the better," she said, referring to the expiry of Moscow's agreement with Kiev in 2024.
Published 22 August 2021, 13:09 IST