"The project is a serious stumbling block for the restart of transatlantic relations," Peter Beyer said, as cited by the energetyka24.com website.
"The Americans expect us not only to change our rhetoric, but also to let actions speak for themselves," he added in an interview with a German weekly, according to the Politico news service.
"I, therefore, advocate a construction moratorium for Nord Stream 2," said Beyer, who is Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the German foreign ministry.
In February, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the German lower house, Norbert Röttgen, proposed introducing a moratorium on the construction of the controversial pipeline, according to a report.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last month that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built from Russia to Germany could undermine the interests of a number of NATO allies, including Poland.
Speaking on a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Blinken said US President Joe Biden “believes the pipeline is a bad idea, bad for Europe, bad for the United States.”
He added that the project was ultimately “in contradiction” to the “security goals” of the 27-nation European Union.
Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, is expected to send around 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas a year directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea while bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine.
Poland has strongly criticised the gas link amid concerns that the pipeline will make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas.
(gs/pk)
Source: energetyka24.com, politico.eu