Merkel pointed out the consequences of refusal from Russian gas for Germany

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she was faithful to her decisions on the Nord Stream-2 pipeline, pointing to the consequences of its shutdown in the form of higher energy prices for Germany. She said this in an interview with Der Spiegel on November 22.

The politician noted that her goal was to provide the German economy with cheap gas. According to her, Nord Stream 2 allowed to maintain ties with Russia in the new conditions after the Cold War.

"We see now what consequences high energy prices have for our country," she said.

Merkel also admitted to being saddened by Republican Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election and called his rise to power a challenge for the world.

Earlier, on November 21, Der Spiegel, citing sources, reported that the SP pipeline was blown up by a group of Ukrainians, some of whom had ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the past. They specified that the cost of the whole operation amounted to up to $300 thousand. Ines Peterson, spokeswoman for the Federal Supreme Court of Germany, responding to Izvestia's question, refused to comment on the magazine's latest publications, which revealed details of the sabotage on the Nord Streams.

Prior to that, on September 25, the German government confirmed that several arrest warrants had been issued during the investigation into the JV undermining. On September 8, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the country would make every effort to investigate and called for the investigation to be conducted in an unbiased manner. The Kremlin agreed with the call, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed to the importance of information sharing instead of leaks.

On June 4, it became known that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two political coalitions, which included the country's current chancellor Olaf Scholz, were pushing hard for the Nord Stream-2 pipeline to be built and lobbying for the interests of the Russian company Gazprom.