BERLIN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Germany said Saturday it was against the United States' approval of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, according to a German government spokeswoman.
"The Federal Government rejects such extraterritorial sanctions," tweeted Ulrike Demmer, deputy spokesperson for the German government, adding that "they affect German and European companies and represent interference in our internal affairs."
"Such U.S. measures, which are based in particular on protecting Ukraine, are particularly incomprehensible," Demmer said, referring to ongoing Russian-Ukrainian talks on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe.
With the mediation of the European Unions, a basic agreement has been reached between Ukraine and Russia on a new gas transit contract for Ukraine from 2020.
"We welcome the fact that a specific agreement was signed on Friday," said Demmer.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a 738-billion-U.S.-dollar defense bill which includes controversial provisions calling for sanctions against Russia and Turkey.
The U.S. bill said it could protect European energy security by imposing sanctions related to Russian energy pipelines Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday slammed the United States for imposing sanctions related to Nord Stream 2, a twin pipeline stretching 1,230 km from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, which is scheduled to start operation in the middle of 2020. Enditem
