Russian diplomat warns against delay to Nord Stream 2 pipeline

The Russian ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nethayev, is urging a rapid decision on the start of gas deliveries through the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
"I don't think anyone needs an artificial delay in the commissioning of the pipeline," he said in an interview with dpa.
Russia is ready to deliver gas to Germany immediately through the two pipes under the Baltic Sea, he said. He said he expected the new federal government to deal with the project "pragmatically and for the benefit of consumers."
Commenting on opposition to the project from the Greens - the second-largest party in Germany's new coalition government - the ambassador said: "I hear from the new federal government the assessment that it is a private-sector project that should not be linked to politics."
This has been a consistent line from the previous government, as well as from new Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described the approval process for the commissioning of the pipeline as "non-political."
The pipelines between Russia and Germany are ready, but they still lack operating permission from the Federal Network Agency.
"Decisions on this will not be made in the first half of the year," its president Jochen Homann said recently.
After the agency's decision, the EU Commission will also carry out its own review of the project.