MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The United States is fanning tensions in Europe to use them as an excuse to tighten restrictions on supplies of Russian gas, Russia Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"Another reason, undoubtedly, is Russia's energy cooperation with European countries. It's a thorn in the side of Washington, which needs to conquer back another market, especially because it's the gas market," Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.
In this light, destabilization of the situation in Ukraine, through which Russian gas was delivered, has been advantageous "during all those years," she said.
"This is why Nord Stream 2 is the project which they have tried to stall by all possible means: completely prevent it from appearing, then halt the construction, then invent a reason why it can't be put into operation, and now they're also trying to attack altogether, or attempt to. The want to invent some Russian threat to use as an excuse for even greater sanctions and more arguments to intimidate Europeans with the prospects of not receiving energy sourced from us," she said.