Testing work on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany will start next week, Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region where the pipeline starts, was cited as saying by the TASS news agency on Wednesday. The United States last month waived sanctions on the company behind the pipeline to Germany and its chief executive, a move decried by critics of the project in the U.S. Congress, but welcomed this week by the Kremlin. The project, led by Gazprom with its Western partners, aims to deliver Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, but has long been opposed by Washington which says it would dangerously increase Moscow’s regional clout. The pipeline would bypass Ukraine, potentially depriving it […]