north stream and nordstrom to pipelines. bypass ukraine and safe on billions in transit fees that are currently a major source of income for the neighboring country not to rely entirely on the north rim delivery system russia still wants to send some gas through ukraine asked for ukraine the country depends on gas from russia but must call has weaponized its supply in the past cutting it off repeatedly in the 1990 s. russian president putin says similar action is no longer planned. we are not going to sign any kind of contract with ukraine in order to stop gas translator no we are interested in this gas transit we are ukraine we want it it's a convenient route incidentally the ukrainian route is longer than the route along the baltic sea and. it's longer and more expensive for us but nevertheless this route is worked out to central and to southern europe it's good and we're ready to keep it. going it. talks in berlin half an hour later stood deal between russia and its neighbor. to this very intensive talk i'm very glad to say that we reached agreement in principle. on all key elements which i believe it's very good and very positive news for europe for russia for a crane for gas

products construction of north stream to began last year as of november 29th seen more than 80 percent of the pipeline was built its launch a shuttle for 2020 the 2 lines of north stream and north stream 2 from russia to germany are currently being laid under the baltic sea total capacity is expected to be $55.00. 1000000000 cubic meters of gas to get some of europe's biggest energy funds are involved in construction of north stream to the pipeline will pass through territorial waters and economic zones of the russian federation finland sweden denmark and germany according to the russian side the north stream 2 construction project complies with international law and there is no legal basis for a suspension therefore it argues opponents of the project are using illegal tools that threaten the global economy has repeatedly stated that north stream too is an absolutely commercial and competitive project germany has also repeatedly said that north stream to is an economic project and does not threaten the energy security of europe ukraine opposes not strictly fearing it will lose revenue from russian gas transit but as with peace in noted earlier the construction

diversifying the way its fuel gets to western european countries through new pipelines like north stream north stream to that's a disaster that gets europe hoped on putin's gas needle so let's just listen to how a u.s. congressman who was behind the sanctions put it last week this pipeline if completed. would make europe even more dependent on russian energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars that would follow on russian military aggression so we have learned that the us 2020 national defense authorization act includes a bill that would penalize the companies that are involved in the construction of nord stream 2 there are plenty of german businesses that are who are involved because it is indeed in the interest of european consumers to get a new more reliable more direct route for the supplies now when it comes to the officials in moscow they have been blaming the americans for unfair competition to get used to moscow does not like such actions. peris these sanctions are a direct violation of international rules an example of unfair competition and an attempt to

affect construction of the north stream to pipeline carpeting the ships used to lay the massive pipes that the project depends on u.s. lawmakers and the white house believe the north stream to that north stream through will make germany too reliant on russian gas ultimately giving moscow greater political leverage over berlin and the whole of the european union. a political correspondent simon young is covering this story for us and he joins us now from our problem in 3 studios in berlin simon could these sanctions delay or perhaps even stop the german russian pipeline project with terry that seems pretty unlikely because this project to ease almost complete mold in 2000 kilometer is of the nodes trying to pipeline of already been laid in the baltic sea there is about only about 300 kilometers left to do and also germany has consistently stood behind this project it says that it's very important full gemini's in europe's energy security and also for enabling germany's transition fully to renewable sources of energy so it seems unlikely it could be stopped although obviously if these sanctions a really a ploy it against executives of the construction companies that

with one of its major energy sources the north stream and north stream 2 pipelines allow moscow to bypass ukraine and safe on billions in transit fees that are currently a major source of income for the neighboring country. not to rely entirely on the north rim delivery system russia still wants to send some gas to ukraine asked for ukraine the country depends on gas from russia but moscow has weaponized its supply in the past cutting it off repeatedly in the 1990 s. russian president putin says similar action is no longer planned. we are not going to sign any kind of contract with ukraine in order to stop gas translator no we are interested in this gas transit we are ukraine we want it it's a convenient route and the dental is the ukrainian route is longer than the route along the baltic sea it is longer and more expensive for us but nevertheless this route is worked out to central and to southern europe it's good and we're ready to keep it. in. talks in berlin half now leads to a good deal between russia and its neighbor. to these very intensive talks and very glad to say that we reache

fuel to deliver what it sells to european countries through pipelines modern pop lines like north stream or north stream to which almost been complete that's a disaster they say that would get europe hooked on. gas needled that's what they call it so let's just listen to how a u.s. senator who's behind the sanctions bill once put it. this pipeline if completed. would make europe even more dependent on russian energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars that would fund the russian military aggression. so we learned that now the u.s. senate has approved a 2020 national defense authorization act which includes a bill which penalizes the companies that are involved in the construction of the pipeline but by far when we're talking about the north these are not only russian companies there are a lot of german companies and that's a direct route for russian natural gas to germany because if we think about it indeed many companies many european businesses are interested in it because they are keen to get a direct more reliable route for their fuel to be delivered there i can t

with the introduction of the north stream pipeline in 2011 much of the russian gas delivered to the e.u. had a new route and north stream 2 will double the capacity leaving ukraine to worry not only about a major source of income but also its own demand ukraine depends on gas from russia but moscow has weaponized its supplies in the past turning off the spigot repeatedly in the $990.00 s. russian president vladimir putin says similar action is no longer a plan if. we are not going to sign any kind of contract with ukraine in order to stop gas translator no we are interested in this gas transit we are ukraine we want it it's a convenient route incidentally the ukrainian route is longer than the route along the baltic sea it is longer and more expensive for us but nevertheless this route is worked out to central and to southern europe it's good and we're ready to keep it going to we will see. the next hurdle awaits north stream 2 before the weekend u.s. president trump is expected to impose sanctions on companies involved in the construction of the pipeline the u.s. tries to limit russian gas supplies to europe and

north stream the u.s. has criticized the project for handing too much power to russia. the sanctions on the north stream 2 projects are included in a wide ranging us defense spending bill president signed the legislation into law a ceremony held under full space just outside washington. now my honor to. sign the 2000 to $1.00 a marriage bill defense authorization act into law. the sanctions target companies involved in the almost 10000000000 euro project to double the pipeline capacity covering russian natural gas to europe's leading economy germany . most of the pipeline has been completed all seized the company building the unfinished section through danish territorial waters announced it was holding its work in anticipation of the new law washington had made it clear in advance that noncompliance would have consequences you know senator cruz who is the sponsor of the bill wrote a letter to the c.e.o. of all cs today basically saying as soon as this bill is signed into law you're out of compliance and you are subject to sanctions so it's a it's a it's a hot topic. the u.s. move has angered germ

north eastern germany this is where the 1200 kilometer long north stream to pipeline reaches the german baltic sea coast soon natural gas from russia will be flowing towards western europe circumventing ukraine. gas market expert heiko loman says there's a very clear reason for building the pipeline. naturally the russian side always insists that nord stream 2 wasn't built to bypass ukraine like nordstrom one but i believe that's exactly why work to do as special ships lay pipeline sections just a few kilometers off the german baltic sea coast resistance is coming from the u.s. they're planning sanctions possibly to include those operating the vessels instead of natural gas from russia the usa wants to sell its liquid gas there's also opposition to the pipeline in poland its antitrust authority has led to $20000000.00 fine on north stream to financing company reportedly because the proper documents went submitted my opinion notion to cannot be stopped because it's so. it's. in the way that actually make it impossible to put a halt now however there is a chance to take the profit that ability over to project down to gas from a well to operate north into harder. pay day and let you a near the baltic country gets its liquefied natural gas by ship from cutter poland has signed contracts with the us for liquefied gas both countries want to free themselves from dependence on russia. but taking climate change into consideration the north stream to pipeline could also be used to transport hydrogen instead of natural gas experts like heiko loman say climate killing greenhouse gases can be avoided that way. when you're. supposed to use natural gas long term and i'm supposed to split hydrogen and carbon dioxide the russians are working on a process for making solid carbon so there won't even be a need for carbon dioxide st

a project that has been ongoing for a long time and there's a reason why it's called north stream 2 there's a north korean one already and they just double the capacity of what is used as a pipeline to bring gas directly from russia to germany which makes a number of actors in the 2 political scene upset 1st and foremost the transit countries don't get revenues from acting as transit countries secondly it's against the european union's in present of an integrated energy policy and 1st and foremost and that's the main reason for the united states to impose sanctions on this was company that builds the pipeline is that the u.s. wants to sell gas from fracking from the united states it can be shipped as liquefied gas to ports in europe and so russia is just a competitor and the united states want to sell their gas to germany. well russia has been looking to build pipelines bypassing ukraine because of this. relations but in the meantime the 2 countries have settled a long running dispute allowing moscow to supply gas to europe for the next 5 years they have been fears that a delay could limit supplies

the north stream 1 we are good with. the northome in and give more power to the russians. this is something that we are supported by 17, 18 other countries in europe. who are saying to germany you shouldn't do. this so the senate and the house have come together. it's now going to be on the president's desk to try to sanction this pipeline we think it's long standing policy of the united states government to push for diversification and stand with other agree with us. >> martha: good luck to you and the other ambassador kelly craft in your efforts to change these rules in these 70 countries. we hope you get somewhere. keep us posted. it's good to see you back in new york. >> good to see you again. >> martha: thank you, rick. on the eve of historic vote make president trump third in history to be impeached. some are calling the past few weeks the best of his presidency. find out why next. rick says nobody is talking about it in europe. if your glasses aren't perfect, we'll fix them. so will we. no we won't. don't forget to use your

against the north stream to gas pipeline from russia to germany the sanctions target companies involved in the construction of the pipeline which runs under the baltic sea washington says north stream too will give russia too much power over europe and it's offering its own gas as an alternative. the gas pipeline has just 300 kilometers to go this signature aims to stop it dead in the water the new u.s. law imposes sanctions against companies building the pipeline washington says north stream 2 will make germany too dependent on russian energy none of your business says german vice chancellor scholtz. sanctions constitute serious interference in the internal affairs of germany and europe and of our own sovereignty we have checked to them in the strongest terms moreover this behavior is entirely in comprehensible and is not at all appropriate between friends and nato allies. the sanctions target companies like swiss based all sees it operate ships that lay pipelines at sea but because the sanctions could threaten business the company does in the united states its announced its suspending work on north stream too many german politicians are outraged by the american measures. j

stream towards the north. it does spell rainfall scotla nd the north.istrict, maybe into parts of northern wales and behind me you can see speckles of white. that's know. this slightly colder weather all the way from iceland and the arctic is only going to clip northern parts of scotland as we head into friday, so here, yes, is stronger winds, as we head into friday, so here, yes, is strongerwinds, even as we head into friday, so here, yes, is stronger winds, even gale force winds, out in the mountains temporary blizzards but for the vast majority of the uk friday is looking absolutely fine. a little bit fresher across the northern half of the uk. still pretty mild in the south, around 10 degrees and sunshine for the vast majority of the uk. saturday and the rest of the weekend, big high pressure centred pretty much across the uk, also france and the low countries, dominating the weather widely across europe, not necessarily the mediterranean. further south it looks as though the weather will be u nsettled. looks as though the weather will be unsettled.

ministration to impose sanctions on russia's north stream to and stream gas pipelines and approves military aid to ukraine the white house opposes the construction of north stream to believing that the project will give russia leverage over the foreign policy of european countries plan to promote its liquefied natural gas in the pipeline if completed would make europe even more dependent on russian energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars.

representatives affect construction of the north stream to pipeline targeting the ships that lay the massive pipes u.s. lawmakers and the white house believes that north stream too will make germany too reliant on russian gas and give moscow greater political leverage over berlin and the whole of the european union. our political correspondent simon young is covering this story for us and he joins us for more hi simon tell us more about some of the reactions that you've seen here in berlin this morning. yes i mean as you mentioned there's been some reaction from german businesses the head of the german russian chamber of commerce's calling for retaliate 3 sanctions if the u.s. imposed these measures and there's also been simplistic all reaction we have the spokeswoman for peta out my he's the economics minister here this morning saying that they regret the decision of the u.s. house of representatives they reject any what they called extraterritorial sanctions and they're watching closely to see what the u.s. senate does i believe there's going to be a vote on this measure in the u.s. senate the end of next week senate what exactly are these sanctions

a project that has been ongoing for a long time and there's a reason why it's called north stream 2 there's a north korean one already and they just double the capacity of what is used as a pipeline to bring gas directly from russia to germany which makes a number of actors in the political scene upset 1st and foremost the transit countries don't get revenues from acting as transit countries secondly it's against the european union's in presence of an integrated and it's the policy and 1st and foremost and that's the main reason for the united states to impose sanctions on this was company that builds the pipeline is that the u.s. wants to sell gas from fracking from the united states that can be shipped as liquefied gas to ports in europe and so russia is just a competitor and the united states want to sell their gas to germany. or russia has been looking to build pipelines by possum ukraine because of their strained relations but in the meantime the 2 countries have settled a long running dispute allowed moscow to supply gas to europe for the next 5 years they had been fears a delay could limit s

north stream to project. it doesn't seem at this point like these sanctions are going to be a fatal blow for north stream the u.s. has really been talking about putting sanctions on on companies associated with nordstrom all year and those conversations really got sidetracked by bigger political problems like impeachment in the u.s. but at this point it may be too late the nordstrom too is already about 85 to 90 percent complete they do need other contractors still to lease them underground pipes but russian officials are saying that even if even if some of these companies have to pull out they can finish that work themselves by early next year so it may have the window may have passed for the u.s. to stop this project why is the u.s. so opposed to nord stream to the u.s. really sees north stream to. as a political mechanism for russia to gain more influence over energy policy and europe and there's also of course concern about how this impacts ukraine ukraine right now gets about $3000000000.00 every year for allowing russian gas to past there it's pipeline this could certainly stoke more tensions between ru

north's thing to gas pipeline to germany berlin and brussels say that america should mind its own business the foreign minister sergey lavrov added that russia will respond to washington's move . and convince the north stream to as well as turks stream will be completed so extremists that for launch in just 2 or 3 weeks will respond to sanctions but in a way in which we will not harm ourselves but we will definitely respond of course we will keep in mind when developing our relations i'm surprised the politicians reach such decisions which give no credit to high profile political figures the german government has regretfully taken into account that sanctions against north stream 2 and turks stream initiated by the us congress they think german and european companies and are tantamount to interference in our domestic affairs. 12 hundreds so he's 1200 kilometer long north stream too is being built from russia to germany through the baltic sea it will allow russia to increase gas exports to germany and europe and supply enough gas to power almost 30000000 households. sanctions target companies involved in building the last remaining leg of the pipeline and their main swiss contractors now pulled out of washington's tough penalties and old steam spokesperson told r.t. completing the project is essential for european energy security and says we will be finished as soon as possible the u.s. as long voiced opposition to the project the united states commands all our european partners who've taken a strong stand against north stream 2. and we commend others to do the same germany is totally controlled by russia because they were getting from 60 to 70 percent o