European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen countered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s appeal to the German government to revisit a decision to abandon the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“I want to be very clear: Nord Stream 2 is not even certified and not at all operational,” the commission chief said at a Brussels news conference, launching an emergency gas supply plan.
Von der Leyen also said “there is no pretext not to deliver gas” through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline now that a Siemens Energy turbine is to be returned from Canada after maintenance work.
“It (the turbine) is in transit,” von der Leyen said.
“There are potentially also alternative turbines that fit, it is not the one and single turbine in the world,” she added. (dpa/NAN)