Merkel: Russian gas was not used as a weapon

The Chancellor said she believed "not in change through trade" but in "connection through trade with the world's second-largest nuclear power."

Such a step was difficult, because the West discussed the risks that Russia would allegedly stop pumping fuel through Ukraine immediately after the launch of Nord Stream 2, she said.

The chancellor noted that the West has achieved the preservation of transit, and at the time of the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the gas pipeline was not launched.

“In this sense, gas was not a weapon,” RIA Novosti quotes Merkel.

She emphasized that it was profitable for Germany to buy pipeline gas from Russia, and not LNG from the countries of the Middle East and the United States.

On February 22, the German Ministry of Economy suspended the certification process for Nord Stream 2.

At the same time, Gazprom continues to supply gas through Ukraine in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side (41.9 million cubic meters as of June 17) to the Sudzha GIS, the application for the Sokhranovka GIS was again rejected.