From Breitbart.com…
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that his government will block the approval process for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in a major rebuke of Russia following Vladimir Putin’s move to recognise the sovereignty of two pro-Russian regions of the Donbas in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Tuesday Morning, the recently installed left-wing Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz said that he has instructed the Federal Ministry of Economics to take steps to ensure the gas pipeline cannot be approved for now after already being on hold from the nation’s energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).
Scholz said that the movement of additional troops into the ‘breakaway’ separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas represented a “serious violation of international law” and therefore it was clear that Germany’s stance towards Russia — which has hitherto been criticised as too accommodating — must “now be reassessed,” German tabloid Bild reported.
“In this phase, it is now important to prevent further escalation and thus another catastrophe in addition to the first sanctions. This is what all our diplomatic efforts are aimed at,” Sholz added.
