Washington’s sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project are pointless as the construction of the gas pipeline has been completed, Dmitry Birichevsky, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Economic Cooperation, told Sputnik.

"To be honest, we see no point in Washington's sanctions policy in conditions when the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has already been built," the diplomat said.

Birichevsky added the US actions against the project are "contrary to the interests of most European countries."

"We believe that the certification of the gas pipeline, its commissioning, and further use will be carried out based on the legal norms in force in the EU," the diplomat added.

New US Sanctions

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced that the US administration will impose sanctions against two Russian ships and against a company involved in the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project, which also has links with Russia.

Blinken said that sanctions will be applied against TransAdria Limited, and its ship, the Marilyn, which will be classified as embargoed property.

"Even as the administration continues to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including via our sanctions, we continue to work with Germany and other allies and partners to reduce the risks posed by the pipeline to Ukraine and frontline NATO and EU countries and to push back against harmful Russian activities, including in the energy sphere," he added.

What is Nord Stream 2? 

The 1,230-kilometer Nord Stream 2 pipeline increases the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian gas reserves to Europe.

The project operator is owned by Russia's Gazprom PJSC, with other investors paying half of the 9.5 billion euro ($10.8 billion) cost.

Nord Stream 2 might help Europe guarantee a low-cost gas supply at a time when the continent's suppliers are cutting production.

It's also part of Gazprom's decades-long attempt to diversify its European exports as the continent shifts away from nuclear and coal power.