BERLIN, Jan 27 – Germany will seek to continue talks with the U.S. over the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and asked Washington to lift sanctions that have been imposed to stop the pipeline, Reuters reported.

Germany Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, after his first phone call with new U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said: “I think that overall we have to consider in transatlantic relations whether it makes so much sense to impose punitive tariffs or sanctions on each other.”

“We want to talk to the United States about it (Nord Stream 2), but our position on this issue has not changed in principle,” he told Reuters in a television interview.

The $11.6 billion pipeline, which would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream link from Russia to Germany and bypass Ukraine, is a contentious issue between Berlin and Washington, which wants to sell its own liquefied natural gas to Europe.

Nord Stream 2 poses a major threat to Ukraine as Russia would be able to divert its gas supplies to Germany away from Ukrainian pipelines, eliminating up to $2 billion/year in revenue from gas transit. The move would significantly weaken Ukraine’s ability to finance its armed forces and fight against Moscow-backed separatists in Donbas.

U.S. President Donald Trump administration threatened to impose sanctions against European companies that help Russia to build the pipeline. The threat of sanctions has halted construction of the pipeline for a year.

New U.S. President Joe Biden believes Nord Stream 2 is a “bad deal for Europe,” but has also called for improving relations with the European Union. Russia and Germany said the pipeline is just a commercial project.

Maas said he was impressed by the first phone call with Blinken.

“I have to get used to the fact that I talk to my American colleague on the phone and we agree on almost all points. This has not been the case in the past,” he said, adding this was the basis for transatlantic relations to improve “step by step.” (rt/ez)