OREANDA-NEWS. The head of the state oil and gas concern of Ukraine «Naftogaz» Yuriy Vitrenko, during a visit to Washington together with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, called on the United States to prevent the completion of the construction of the controversial German-Russian gas pipeline «Nord Stream-2» (SP-2). «Even if he is, I do not know, 99 percent ready, we still believe that this project can and should be stopped», Vitrenko said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday evening, August 31.

According to the head of Naftogaz, US President Joe Biden should restore sanctions against SP-2. Ukraine has asked the United States and Germany for guarantees to preserve it's status as a gas transit country after 2024, when the Russian-Ukrainian transit agreement expires. «We constantly emphasize that for us it is not about money, but, first of all, about the national security of Ukraine», Vitrenko said.

In July, Germany and the United States announced an agreement to settle a long-standing dispute over a new German-Russian gas pipeline, through which additional volumes of gas will be supplied to Western Europe.