German politicians discuss the fate of Nord Stream with Moscow behind closed doors

This was reported by the German magazine Spiegel and the Russian opposition platform Insider in a joint investigation, according to Ukrinform.

According to the investigators, the key figure in this network is the former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, who has been to Moscow at least nine times since the end of 2022, most recently in March 2025.

According to journalists, he was accompanied on several occasions by Martin Hoffmann, managing director of the German-Russian Forum, and Ronald Pofalla, a member of the Christian Democratic Union who served as the Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery and a Federal Minister for Special Affairs from 2009 to 2013, in the second coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some visits were attended by former Minister for Federal and European Affairs and International Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Stefan Holthoff-Pferter, and SPD member of the Bundestag Ralf Stegner, the article says.

In addition, according to investigators, German representatives held confidential meetings in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, with representatives of Gazprom (the holding company of Nord Stream 2 AG), including the company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Viktor Zubkov, and Sergei Kolin.

Journalists note that Moscow has been trying for some time to resume work on Nord Stream 2 with the participation of the US. This pipeline, like Nord Stream 1, was seriously damaged in 2022, but one branch is intact. Although the German government refused to grant a license due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin announced in March last year that if the U.S. and Russia reached an agreement, Russian gas would once again be able to flow to Europe. He also discussed this with U.S. President Donald Trump. After this conversation, the Kremlin announced that the parties were “interested” in energy projects, the article says.

It reports that last year, American businessman Stephen Lynch expressed his desire to buy Nord Stream 2 from Gazprom through a Swiss company and relaunch it as an American project. According to journalists, Lynch lived and did business in Moscow for a long time. Media sources in the security services say that Moscow is “deliberately” using American investors to “normalize” relations with America.

In Germany,  Christian Democratic Union member Thomas Bareiß, the Representative for Energy Policy of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, said during spring coalition talks that one day Nord Stream 2, which is under American control, could become “part of Trump’s deal with Russia.” Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, said that Nord Stream could be “a possible starting point for negotiations with Russia,” while SDP member and Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke advocated for “normalization of trade relations” after peace was achieved, which would include “supplies of raw materials.”

The Green Party opposed this, journalists note. Former Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and his Parliamentary State Secretary, Michael Kellner, wanted to prevent the gas pipelines from being put back into service. Bankruptcy proceedings were initiated to complicate “deals to the detriment of Ukraine.”

But on April 15, shortly before the expiration of the Olaf Scholz government’s term, creditors voted against bankruptcy. Although the EU banned the sale of Nord Stream 2 through the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, they must be renewed every six months, so a veto from Hungary is enough, and Nord Stream 2 is again ready for “bidding,” the publication says.

It is noted that the Federal Ministry of Finance, in response to inquiries, neither confirms nor denies the possibility of discussing Nord Stream 2. At the same time, investigators learned that during Chancellor Scholz’s tenure, there were several unofficial channels of communication with Russia, one of which was the “Platzek Baku Group.”

As reported by Ukrinform, the Financial Times previously reported that former Stasi spy and close friend of Putin, Matthias Warnig, is developing a project to restart the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe with the support of American investors.

The 1,234 km Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, consisting of two branches, was built despite numerous protests from Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states to increase the volume of Russian gas transported to Europe via Germany. It has not been certified due to the imposition of U.S. sanctions.

On September 26, 2022, a major accident occurred on the Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Both lines of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline and one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline were damaged.