NEW YORK, June 5. /TASS/. Noted American investor Stephen P. Lynch has come before the German economy ministry with the suggestion that the United States be allowed to buy the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, The New York Times reports.
Lynch has already run this idea by the administration of President Donald Trump, the newspaper said. The investor believes that the US would want to control "a pivotal piece of energy infrastructure," it noted. "Despite years of international friction over the pipeline, he proposed to eventually activate it and deliver natural gas to Germany," the news outlet informed.
Officials in Germany are skeptical about the plan, the news outlet said. The ministry did not respond to a request from The New York Times for a comment. Lynch believes that Germans would like to eventually buy cheap Russian gas again. In his opinion, transferring the pipeline under the control of an American legal entity would allow the West to keep a closer eye on sales of Russian gas and also mean Europe would not need to do business directly with Russian companies.
"European officials now appear concerned that companies and politicians could be tempted anew by cheap Russian energy, especially if the fighting ends in Ukraine and Moscow deepens its rapprochement with Washington," the newspaper said.