Former “Nord Stream 2” AG CEO Matthias Warnig is preparing to restart “Nord Stream 2” with the support of American investors. This could demonstrate the rapprochement of the US President Donald Trumpʼs administration with Moscow.
This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.
Warnigʼs plan — a former “Stasi” officer in East Germany and a close friend of Putin — involves reaching out to the Trump team through American businessmen as part of brokering an end to the war in Ukraine and deepening US-Russian economic relations.
Some senior Trump administration officials are aware of the initiative to attract American investors to restart “Nord Stream 2” and also see it as an attempt to restore relations with Russia.
A US-led consortium of investors has drawn up the outlines of a post-sanctions deal with Russiaʼs “Gazprom”.
European officials have learned about these initiatives in recent weeks — the leaders of several European countries are concerned, they have already had conversations about the gas pipeline.
One of the two “Nord Stream 2” pipelines was blown up in September 2022. This destroyed both “Nord Stream 1” pipelines. The other “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline was never used.
Matthias Warnigʼs plan would give the US unprecedented influence over energy supplies to Europe after the European Union decided to get rid of its dependence on Russian gas.
But the plan has obstacles. It would require the United States to lift sanctions against Russia, for the latter to agree to resume sales it cut off during the war, and for Germany to allow gas to be transferred to any potential buyers in Europe.
“The US would say, ʼWell, now Russia will be reliable because there are reliable Americans inside this. American investors will raise money for next to nothing’,” said a former senior US official who was aware of some of the attempts to strike deals.
The restart plan has been brought up now as the Trump administration tries to broker a peace deal with Russia through bilateral talks, leaving Europe and Ukraine out of it. Trump has promised to deepen economic cooperation with Russia if a peace deal is reached.
Putin also talked about the economic benefits that, according to him, the United States could receive from the Kremlin if it manages to end Russiaʼs war in Ukraine, saying that "several companies" have already spoken about potential deals.
Matthias Warnig claimed in a comment to the Financial Times that he "did not participate in any discussions with any American politicians or business representatives".
Warnig became a close friend of Putin in the 1990s after opening an office for lender Dresdner Bank in St. Petersburg, where Putin was then head of the cityʼs foreign affairs committee. The latter even asked Warnig to house his daughters in the bankerʼs house in Roedermark, Germany, when their mother was seriously injured in a car accident.
Putin also taught Warnigʼs children to ski in Davos and invited him to his fatherʼs funeral.
After the start of full-scale war, Warnig publicly called the invasion an “unspeakable mistake” and resigned from the boards of two Kremlin-controlled energy companies.
The US administration under President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on Warnig and “Nord Stream 2” AG in 2022. American officials at the time showed little interest in an offer to buy “Nord Stream 2” from American businessman Stephen Lynch.
During his first presidency, Donald Trump criticized the pipeline and accused Germany — and Europe in general — of relying too much on Russian gas and helping to fund the Kremlinʼs war machine.
- Nord Stream 2 was laid in two strands along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. They were supposed to bring Russian gas to Germany through the maritime territories of the Russian Federation, Germany, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. According to the plan, the length of the pipeline is more than 1 200 km, and the capacity is 55 billion cubic meters per year.
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