<p>Kiev sees the soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe and bypassing Ukraine as "a dangerous geopolitical weapon", President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.</p>.<p>The Ukrainian leader was speaking at a joint press conference in Kiev with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded the pipeline fiercely opposed by Russian neighbours Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states.</p>.<p>The $12-billion pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea is set to double Russian natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest economy. It avoids Ukraine, depriving Kiev of essential gas transit fees.</p>.<p>"We view this project exclusively through the prism of security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin," Zelensky said.</p>.<p>He added that the main risks after its completion will be "borne by Ukraine" but that the pipeline will also be dangerous "for all of Europe".</p>.<p>The pipeline "will only play into the hands of the Russian Federation," he said.</p>.<p>For her part, Merkel said Berlin agrees with Washington that "gas must not be used as a geopolitical weapon".</p>.<p>"It will come down to if there is an extension to the transit contract via Ukraine -- the sooner the better," she said, referring to the expiry of Moscow's agreement with Kiev in 2024.</p>
<p>Kiev sees the soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe and bypassing Ukraine as "a dangerous geopolitical weapon", President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.</p>.<p>The Ukrainian leader was speaking at a joint press conference in Kiev with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded the pipeline fiercely opposed by Russian neighbours Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states.</p>.<p>The $12-billion pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea is set to double Russian natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest economy. It avoids Ukraine, depriving Kiev of essential gas transit fees.</p>.<p>"We view this project exclusively through the prism of security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin," Zelensky said.</p>.<p>He added that the main risks after its completion will be "borne by Ukraine" but that the pipeline will also be dangerous "for all of Europe".</p>.<p>The pipeline "will only play into the hands of the Russian Federation," he said.</p>.<p>For her part, Merkel said Berlin agrees with Washington that "gas must not be used as a geopolitical weapon".</p>.<p>"It will come down to if there is an extension to the transit contract via Ukraine -- the sooner the better," she said, referring to the expiry of Moscow's agreement with Kiev in 2024.</p>