News
Matthias Warnig, an ex-Stasi officer in East Germany, ex-head of the board of directors of the Russian aluminum giant Rusal, and ex-managing director of the Swiss parent company of Nord Stream 2, is lobbying for the relaunch of the natural gas pipeline. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, which cites anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, Warnig is doing so with the backing of American investors.
Warnig has reportedly attempted to establish contact with Donald Trump’s team through a number of U.S. businessmen who are in unofficial discussions about a potential end to the war in Ukraine. They reportedly foresee the possibility of expanded economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow.
Some members of Trump’s circle are aware of the plan and view it as part of a broader effort to normalize relations with Russia. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, a consortium of American investors has already outlined a preliminary deal with Russian natural gas giant Gazprom — though the identities of those investors remain undisclosed.
Restarting the pipeline would require the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Russia, the resumption of Russian gas sales to Europe, and the approval of Germany for the transportation of such gas to any potential buyers on the continent. The U.S. could frame the deal as a means of guaranteeing the reliability of supply thanks to the involvement of American investors. “The U.S. would say, ‘Well, now Russia will be dependable because trustworthy Americans are in the middle of it,’” a former senior U.S. official told the publication. The obstacles to reaching such a deal, however, are “considerable.”
Warnig has denied engaging in talks with American politicians or businessmen, citing U.S. sanctions against him. The Kremlin and Gazprom declined to comment on the matter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously spoken about the potential benefits of cooperation with the U.S., mentioning that several American companies have already expressed their interest in potential deals.
In September 2022, sabotage rendered both pipelines of Nord Stream 1 and one of the two pipelines of Nord Stream 2 inoperable. The second Nord Stream 2 pipeline, capable of transporting 27.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, remained undamaged but was never put into operation. Nord Stream 2 is fully owned by Gazprom, but around half of its $11 billion construction costs were covered by loans from European energy companies Shell, Uniper, OMV, Engie, and Wintershall — all of which have since written off their losses. In 2022, Germany halted the pipeline’s licensing process, effectively blocking its launch.
Despite interest from certain investors, former U.S. officials remain skeptical about the project's prospects. Even if Putin and Trump were to agree on a deal, EU sanctions and potential political divisions within Germany would stand in the way of its realization, sources told the FT.
Matthias Warnig, 69, developed a close friendship with Vladimir Putin in the 1990s while establishing an office for Dresdner Bank in St. Petersburg. At the time, Putin was a relatively unknown official heading the city's foreign relations committee.
Their relationship deepened to the point that Putin entrusted Warnig with hosting his daughters at the banker’s home in Rödermark when their mother suffered severe injuries in a car accident.
According to a 2023 interview in Die Zeit, Putin, who is fluent in German, taught Warnig’s children to ski in Davos and invited him to his father’s funeral.
However, Warnig later distanced himself from the Russian leader, calling the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine an “indescribable mistake.” In response to the war, he resigned from the boards of two Kremlin-controlled energy companies — Rosneft and Transneft.