US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 is ‘intimidation policy,’ Lavrov says, promises reaction

By imposing sanctions on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the US demonstrated that its diplomacy is aimed at intimidating the opponent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

Washington has once again demonstrated that its diplomacy “comes down primarily to intimidation by various methods – sanctions, ultimatums, and threats,” Lavrov told the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament.

“When the closest allies are punished for solving their economic problems, tasks related to energy security, I think that no country in the world should ever doubt that if the US promises them something, they will be abandoned at any time,” TASS quoted the minister as saying. The US sanctions will not remain without reaction, he added.

Lavrov also said, however, that Moscow and Washington have recovered constructive cooperation in various areas, namely in the sphere of counterterrorism.