REUTERS - Germany will try to protect German and European companies from some potentially “massive collateral damage” if Washington levies further sanctions against Russia, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

REUTERS - Threatening to impose U.S. sanctions on companies involved in the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline is unacceptable, the head of Austria’s OMV, which has a stake in the project, told Germany’s Handelsblatt.

REUTERS - The United States has warned German companies involved in the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that they could face sanctions if they stick with the project.

REUTERS - U.S. sanctions against the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be the wrong way to solve a dispute over energy supply, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday.

PLATTS - The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on a non-binding resolution expressing opposition to the completion of the 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

REUTERS - Germany is still committed to the NordStream 2 pipeline, which will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine in transporting gas to Europe, despite escalating tension in the region, a government spokesman in Berlin said on Wednesday.

ГАЗПРОМ - строительство газопровода "Северный Поток - 2" идет в соответствии с графиком. К настоящему времени суммарно на дно Балтийского моря уложено около 300 км труб. В частности, завершена укладка обеих ниток в прибрежной зоне Германии, ведутся работы в территориальных водах и в исключительной экономической зоне Германии, а также в исключительной экономической зоне Финляндии.

PLATTS - Ukraine is looking at different ways to use its vast gas transit network should Kiev fail to agree a new transit deal with Russia's Gazprom once their existing contract expires at the end of 2019, a senior Ukrainian politician said.

FT - That the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas is a geographic and arithmetical fact. But buried in the heated rhetoric — now rising to US sanction threats — over how much that matters, is just how inexpensive it would be for Europe to purchase supply diversity with liquefied natural gas from the US.

REUTERS - The Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will transport Russian gas to Germany will be completed on time even if new sanctions are imposed on Moscow, Russia’s energy minister said.