Gas pass: Germany is considering the restoration of the Nord Streams
Certain political circles and businesses in Germany are discussing the possibility of restoring Nord Stream or using the surviving branch of Nord Stream 2, the Russian Embassy in Berlin told Izvestia. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak clarified in an interview with the editorial board that the gas pipeline branch, which has not been disabled, is in working condition. The future of Nord Streams is also being discussed between Russia and the United States. The technical possibility of gas supplies remains through the Yamal–Europe pipeline, but the Polish side did not talk about plans to restore the route, the Russian Embassy in Warsaw told Izvestia.
Nord Streams may be restarted in Germany
Discussions are underway in Germany about the possibility of restoring the Nord Streams destroyed as a result of the terrorist attacks or pumping Russian gas through the Nord Stream–2 pipeline, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Berlin told Izvestia.
— Representatives of German business, individual members of the Bundestag, and land politicians urge the federal government of Germany to return to a pragmatic course and resume supplies of Russian energy resources, which for decades have ensured the energy independence of Germany, including the well-being of households, and the high competitiveness of German products. However, there are no signs of a change in Berlin's current policy, in which the primacy of politics over the interests of the national economy is still indisputable," the diplomatic mission said.
The surface of the Baltic Sea at the site of damage to the gas pipeline off the island of Bornholm. 2022
Recall that on September 26, 2022, as a result of sabotage, both lines of the Nord Stream – 1 and one of the two lines of the Nord Stream – 2 were destroyed. The German Prosecutor General's Office is investigating the bombings, which Berlin has classified as a terrorist attack. At the same time, the German side does not provide any comments on the progress of the investigation, which has been going on for two and a half years, the Russian Embassy in Germany stressed.
"Repeated Russian requests in this regard, including proposals to conduct an independent international investigation with our participation under the auspices of the UN Security Council, have also failed," they told Izvestia. — All this casts doubt on Berlin's real interest in identifying and bringing to justice the customers and perpetrators of terrorist attacks on one of the largest critical infrastructure facilities in Europe.
The UPGT outlet filtration unit on the territory of the Slavyanskaya gas compressor station, the starting point of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline
Earlier, the Danish police completed their investigation into the explosions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream–2 gas pipelines due to lack of grounds for initiating a criminal case. Sweden did the same. The authorities of this country have come to the conclusion that there is no one to charge for the incident, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
The technically intact branch of Nord Stream 2 is in working condition, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Izvestia.
— This is not a technical issue. Technically, the gas pipeline is in working condition. The issue in general is the possibility of supply, operation — there are a lot of questions here. There is no consumer, there is no contract," said the deputy chairman of the government.
The capacity of the surviving Nord Stream 2 branch is 27 billion cubic meters. m per year, technically it is possible to pump more than the design capacity, Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University and the National Energy Security Fund, told Izvestia. However, in any case, it is possible to start the pipeline only after obtaining permission from Germany. To launch the destroyed Nord Stream branches, it will be necessary not only to restore their integrity, but also to conduct performance studies and solve the problem with the turbines that Siemens refused to service, the expert concluded.
The German Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection told Izvestia that they were not negotiating with Russia on gas supplies via Nord Stream 2.
— It's not up for discussion. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has not been certified and does not have a legal permit. Therefore, there is no question of using the gas pipeline. We do not speculate and do not comment on hypothetical facts," the German government told Izvestia.
At the same time, on March 25, the government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz formally resigned, he and the members of the cabinet will continue to serve until the formation of a new cabinet.
In February, parliamentary elections were held in Germany, as a result of which the CDU/CSU party won with a result of 28.5%. The second place went to Alternative for Germany (AfD), which became the main opposition force, gaining 20.8%. So far, the ruling SPD has received 16.4%, the Greens 11.6%, and the Left-wing Party 8.9%. The CDU is currently negotiating with the SPD to form a coalition, and a new government led by Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz may begin work in April. The details of the coalition agreement remain unclear.
The section of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline on the coast of Lubmin in northeastern Germany
According to Politico, the CDU /CSU considers it possible to discuss the purchase of Russian gas in the event of a settlement of the situation in Ukraine. This was stated by party member Jan Heinisch, who is a member of the working group on energy and climate in the framework of negotiations on forming a coalition with the SPD.
The AfD party, which has the second largest number of deputies in the Bundestag, considers the resumption of Nord Stream 2 to be part of restoring a normal business partnership with Russia, MP Steffen Cotre told Izvestia.
Can Europe increase purchases of Russian gas
Increasing Russian gas supplies to the EU has become one of the topics of negotiations between the United States and Russia. In particular, energy issues were discussed, among others, during a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on March 18.
"If the United States and Russia agree on cooperation in the field of energy, then a gas pipeline for Europe can be secured. This will benefit Europe because it will receive cheap gas," Putin said at a press conference on March 13.
Moscow and Washington have now moved on to discussing substantive issues. Representatives of Russia and the United States are considering the resumption of work on the Russian Nord Stream and Nord Stream–2 gas pipelines, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on March 25. As the minister noted, "it will be interesting" if Washington uses its levers of pressure on the EU and forces the countries of the community not to abandon gas from the Russian Federation.
The Nord Stream–2 gas pipeline may be transferred to the control of the United States so that Germany receives gas from Russia through it, the Bild newspaper reported. It is noted that in order to implement this option, anti-Russian sanctions should be lifted not only by the American side, but also by the European side. Currently, companies from Germany cannot conduct their business with Russia directly and are forced to do so through third countries.
The resumption of the gas pipeline for Germany is impossible without the approval of the United States. It is likely that the United States will seek to further expand its influence on the energy supply of Germany and Europe, including through participation in the sale of Russian gas to Germany, Steffen Kotre told Izvestia.
— The United States is a major supplier of LNG to Germany and Europe, and they could benefit further if they participated in the sale of Russian pipeline gas to Germany. This would strengthen their geostrategic and economic interests, but would further weaken the sovereignty of European countries in these vital issues. It is also still unclear whether and to what extent the United States itself was responsible for or involved in the attack on Nord Stream," he told Izvestia.
However, Igor Yushkov emphasizes that Russia and the United States are direct competitors in the issue of gas exports to Europe. Washington intends to double its LNG supplies in the next three years, so it needs to clear its markets from competitors. In this regard, there is a risk of introducing restrictions against the Yamal LNG project, which exports about 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas to the region. The United States will not help Russia return to the European market, he believes.
In addition to the Nord Streams, there are three more pipeline gas supply routes from Russia to the EU. Until January 1, he was traveling through Ukraine, which stopped the transit. Slovakia is demanding that it be resumed, but so far Bratislava has not been able to get this from Kiev. Therefore, the country now receives Russian gas through the Turkish Stream, as do Hungary and Serbia. Shipments to EU countries via this route increased by 26% in February 2025, to 1.55 billion cubic meters in annual terms.
Russian gas can also be pumped through the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline, which passes through Belarus and Poland. Earlier, it was terminated due to Warsaw's refusal to pay for purchases in rubles. At the moment, the Polish authorities have not announced plans to resume gas supplies, the Russian Embassy in that country told Izvestia.
The control panel of the Minskaya compressor station of the Yamal–Europe main gas pipeline
Against this background, Brussels remains committed to the idea of not importing Russian fossil fuels, including natural gas.
— The European Commission is committed to the idea of gradually eliminating imports of Russian fossil fuels. And we remain fully committed to this. Our work on the roadmap continues, and we remain determined to implement it," the European Commission told Izvestia.
Although the EU has partially replaced Russian gas, for the most part Brussels has had to reduce its consumption of natural gas. For example, in 2022-2023 it decreased by about 90 billion cubic meters, Igor Yushkov noted. Because of this, many industrial enterprises became unprofitable and were forced to close. For example, the production of nitrogen fertilizers has almost completely stopped.
The well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh claims that the American authorities under the Joe Biden administration were behind the sabotage against the joint venture. According to him, they blew up the pipelines out of fear that Washington might lose influence over Europe, especially Germany. In addition, Hersh believes that Norway was interested in the terrorist attack, which, in the conditions of the shutdown of the Nord Streams, received additional opportunities to increase its natural gas supplies to Western European countries. The Russian side had previously stated about the possible involvement of the American special services in the incident. "I won't go into details, but in such cases they always say: look for someone who is interested. In this case, we need to look not only for someone who is interested, but also for someone who can do it. Because there may be many interested parties, but not everyone can climb to the bottom of the Baltic Sea and carry out this explosion," Vladimir Putin said a year ago.
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