Russia says construction of Nord Stream 2 completed

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom says it has completed the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, a contentious project that Ukraine and the United States have strongly opposed. Owned by Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 is built under the Baltic Sea and bypasses Poland and Ukraine, raising objections from both those countries. Ukraine’s president has described the new pipeline as a geopolitical weapon for Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and has thrown its weight behind a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Washington has strongly opposed the construction of Nord Stream 2, but the administration of Joe Biden has opted not to punish the German company overseeing the project.