Gazprom increases gas transit for Europe through Ukraine
As Russia pumps more gas into Europe, Germany, with which Nord Stream 2 was established, assures the United States that gas would not transit through the pipeline if Moscow and Kyiv go into conflict.
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Gazproms's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline
Russia's Gazprom has increased gas transit through Ukraine to Europe by more than 20% in comparison to last week's average, data from the Transmission System Operator of Ukraine and Slovakia's Eustream said.
The application for pumping at the entry point to Ukraine's transmission system was 58.57 million cubic meters a day on Monday, while it was at 47.98 million cubic meters.
The data shows a 22% increase in gas transmission, while 59.14 million cubic meters were slated for Tuesday. The actual amount of transmitted gas is currently unknown.
At the same time, the amount of gas from Ukraine to Slovakia, which mostly comes from Russia, has seen a significant increase.
Nord Stream 2 will not operate in case of conflict: Germany
Berlin assured the United States that if the situation between Russia and Ukraine spirals into a conflict, gas would not run via Nord Stream 2. However, in reassurance to Moscow, Germany ruled out the abandonment of the project, the Bild newspaper reported Tuesday.
The publications said CIA Director William Burns had visited Berlin two weeks ago. One of the topics he touched on with German officials was the operation of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
Germany had assured Burns and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, the gas would not transit through Nord Stream 2.
The Office of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Germany did not want to distance themselves from the pipeline, Bild reported, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, during the CIA chief's visit to the German capital, "The situation in the SPD leadership was also probed."
The probe comes as Washington questions the loyalty of top SPD politicians to NATO, since "the influence of the Moscow-loyal entourage of the ex-chancellor and Kremlin manager Schroeder is still seen as significant."
Mounting security concerns over Ukraine come as the West accuses Russia of planning an invasion of its western neighbor despite Moscow dismissing these allegations.
Russia insists that it has no intention of attacking any country, seeing the Western accusations as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment close to Russia's borders.
