OREANDA-NEWS. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas believes that progress has been made in the negotiations with the United States on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This was reported by the DPA.

"Over the past weeks, a lot of preliminary work has been done, and I believe that on many points our positions have come closer," the agency quoted the minister as saying.

Maas did not specify whether a breakthrough could be expected from the meeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with US President Joe Biden.

“The main thing is that we have a goal in front of our eyes, and I am also confident that we will achieve it,” he said.

The minister also did not give specific dates.

"But, of course, it would be great if this happened during the visit of the Chancellor to Washington," the DPA quotes him.

At the same time, the United States stated that it still considers the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline a threat to the energy security of Ukraine and Europe. This was told by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, who on Tuesday he arrived on a visit to Ukraine.

On July 15, Merkel will leave for an official visit to Washington, where she will meet with Biden on Thursday. In addition to bilateral relations, as the FRG Chancellor stated earlier, one of the topics of the talks will be Nord Stream 2 and the issue of providing Ukraine with guarantees for the transit of Russian gas.