Putin vows to respond to US sanctions on Nord Stream 2

By Dmitri Chirciu

MOSCOW (AA) - U.S. sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline are not a friendly action and they will draw a response, said Russia’s president on Thursday.

"We will respond based on the principle of reciprocity," Vladimir Putin told his annual year-end news conference in Moscow.

He said the U.S. sanctions over the pipeline would affect bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.

The U.S. Congress on Tuesday approved a defense budget including sanctions on companies involved in Nord Stream 2 project.

The Nord Stream project -- operational since 2011 with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters -- brings Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

The Nord Stream 2, spearheaded by Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom, is nearly finished and has the same annual capacity, running almost parallel to the first pipeline route.

Together they will meet the annual gas demands of a quarter of the European continent.

* Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet in Ankara.