Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom announced that it would resume work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
The company told the German Press Agency on Saturday (November 28) that it would start laying pipes again, but did not provide any information on when Nord Stream 2 would be completed.
Work has been at a standstill since December last year after President Donald Trump gave the green light to impose sanctions on the companies involved in laying the pipes. The Swiss-Dutch pipe-laying company Allseas stopped work in December.
Of the total 1,230-kilometer-long pipeline, only about 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) still need to be laid under the Baltic Sea to reach the German coast.
The pipeline project costs around 10 billion euros (9 billion pounds, 12 billion dollars), is majority owned by Gazprom and is co-financed by companies such as Wintershall, Uniper (UN01.DE), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A), BASF (BAS.DE) and OMV (OMV.VI).
The project has led to considerable tensions between the US and Germany. President Trump has repeatedly accused Berlin of leading Germany and Europe into a dangerous dependence on Russia for energy supplies.
Trump also pushed for more liquefied natural gas from the US to be sold on the EU market.
In August, three Republican U.S. senators sent a threatening letter to Fährhafen Sassnitz, the company that operates the port of Mukran in the Baltic Sea, accusing the company of “knowingly providing significant quantities of goods, services and support” to Russian and German pipeline construction vessels near the German coast.
READ MORE: US threats against German port over Russian pipeline anger Berlin
They demanded that the country stop its activities in support of the pipeline, otherwise it would face “devastating legal and economic sanctions.” These threats were not well received in Berlin: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he had expressed his “displeasure” in a telephone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo said in July that Washington would impose sanctions on companies and investors involved in the pipeline.
“It is a clear warning to companies – supporting and promoting Russia’s malign influence projects will not be tolerated,” Pompeo said. “Get out now or risk the consequences.”
In Germany, calls for Chancellor Angela Merkel to stop the pipeline project grew louder this summer after Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned with the banned nerve agent Novichok.
However, Merkel ruled out stopping work on the pipeline: “Our opinion is that Nord Stream 2 should be completed. I do not think it is appropriate to link this business-driven project with the Navalny issue.”
While Germany has congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory in the US, there is no indication so far that Biden will ease the pressure on Germany to withdraw from Nord Stream 2.
WATCH: The Cold War reaches Sassnitz, the center of the Nord Stream 2 project
