US opposition to the construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline does not guarantee an increase in sales of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the European market, said German Minister of Economics and Energy Peter Altmaier.

The United States is preventing the construction of a gas pipeline in order to increase its own LNG exports, Altmaier is quoted by Reuters . “However, [American LNG] is significantly more expensive compared to pipeline gas, so blocking Nord Stream 2 does not in itself guarantee export,” the minister emphasized.

The US is friends and partners of Europe, but if the US puts its economic interests above others, then it must prepare for Europe to fight for its own interests , Altmaier warned.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal wrote that US President Donald Trump, at a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in April, tried to convince her to refuse support for the Nord Stream 2 project. According to unnamed European officials, Trump wants the United States to replace Russia as the main supplier of gas to European countries. One of the publication’s interlocutors noted that Russian pipeline gas is about 20% cheaper than American liquefied gas.

Deputy Head of the State Department for Energy Policy Sandra Oudkirk stated that the United States does not rule out sanctions against companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 project.

In April, Merkel, at a joint briefing with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said that Germany is familiar with Ukraine’s position on the construction of Nord Stream 2 and considers it necessary to maintain the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory.

The Nord Stream 2 project involves the construction of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2019. It is assumed that the pipe will be laid through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of five states - Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The operator of Nord Stream 2 is the Gazprom-owned company Nord Stream 2 AG.

German Minister defended Nord Stream 2 to the United States