"The original Nord Stream was funded by project finance. We believe raising multi-billion dollar project financing for Nord Stream 2 in the capital markets would probably be much harder now. This is because Western sanctions have significantly hindered international funding to Russian corporates, even those not directly sanctioned," Fitch said.

The two PMs were reacting to a preliminary agreement between Russian giant Gazprom and Western energy concerns including BASF, E.ON, ENGIE, OMV and Shell on doubling the transport capacity of Nord Stream in early September.

Top-flight Western firms such as Shell, E.On, BASF, and Engie (formerly GDF Suez) have banded together with Russia’s Gazprom to double the capacity of Nord Stream, with hopes it will be operational by late 2019.

Running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream I is an export gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. Nord Stream AG is the project operator (Gazprom holds 51 per cent, Wintershall and E.ON – 15.5 per cent and ENGIE – 9 per cent).

New corridors along the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea to European markets should be in service by 2019, Russia's Gazprom said.

Gazprom has put an expansion of its Nord Stream gas pipeline on hold, rowing back for the second time in two months on plans to extend its European network as relations between Russia and the West fester over Ukraine.

Rosneft Discovered a New Hydrocarbon Field in the Kara Sea

Slovakia boosts German gas imports as Ukraine cut looms