INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz put on ice the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline designed to bring Russian gas to Germany on Tuesday,February 22, after Russia formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

The chancellor has asked the German economy ministry to withdraw the report on the analysis of energy supply guarantees from German regulator Bundesnetzagentur. It sounds technical but it's the required procedure so that there can be no certification of the pipeline now. Without this certification Nord Stream 2 can't become operational.

Europe's most divisive energy project, Nord Stream 2 is designed to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia straight to Germany, bypassing traditional transit nation Ukraine, on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

It has faced resistance within the European Union, from the United States as well as Ukraine, on the grounds it increases Europe's energy dependence on Russia, denies Ukraine transit fees and makes it more vulnerable to Russian invasion.

The German government had long said Nord Stream 2 was primarily a commercial project that diversifies energy supplies for Europe.

Europe's largest economy depends on Russia for around half its energy needs.

But after Russia formally recognized two breakaways regions in Eastern Ukraine on Monday, Scholz says Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy deserves respect for not allowing his country to be provoked by Russia because it is precisely that the Russian president is waiting for, to have an excuse for possibly occupying all of Ukraine.

By recognising the two provinces in eastern Ukraine, Russia has violated basic principles, the German chancellor has added. The situation today is therefore entirely different. It is now up to the international community to react to these one-sided, incomprehensible and unjustified actions by the Russian president, in close cooperation, well-coordinated and targeted.

The Russian president's decision to recognise the so called people's republics of Luhansk and Donetsk on Monday is a serious violation of international law. By doing so, President Putin does not just violate the Minsk agreement which he himself signed in 2014/2015. He also does away with the basic principles as outlined in the United Nations charter on the peaceful coexistence of peoples.

The situation is unchanged and what most of European countries are doing is to strengthen Ukraine's economic resilience by being Ukraine's largest financial stabiliser and Germany will continue to be that.

These are very difficult days and hours for Europe. Close to 80 years after the end of World War Two, there is the danger of a war in eastern Europe. It is our job to avert such a catastrophe and Germany is appealing again to Russia to help in the process. 

^{PHOTO: GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ SAYING CERTIFICATION OF NORD STREAM 2 CANNOT GO AHEAD GIVEN RUSSIA'S LATEST ACTIONS}