Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is on hold as the European Commission is looking into the pipeline's compliance with Europe's energy policy, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday, January 31, 2022.

Nord Stream 2, Europe's most divisive energy project, was designed by Russia's state-led gas exporter, Gazprom, to double their gas export to Germany, bypassing the initial route through Ukraine.

Russia's giant gas export pipeline project has been under constant scrutiny, with experts arguing it could be a bargaining tool between the European Union and the Russian regime following a massive buildup of Russian Troop along the Ukrainian border in an attempt to stop NATO expansion to Russian neighbor.

While NATO has been warning Russia could stage a massive invasion into Ukraine with a military force of more than 120,000 troops already at the border of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has always denied the claim, saying his country's move is only for defensive purposes. At the same time, other officials add that Russia has the right to move troops in its territory as it deems fit.

"Clearly, there is certain action from the Russian side that triggered the European Commission's investigation whether Gazprom is in this situation acting in line with market principles... Unfortunately, this problem of weaponisation of gas flows is not new," Dombrovskis said. He also added that the EU would do everything within its reach to avert any energy crisis that could arise should Russia weaponize its natural gas supply to Europe.

Even though Nord Stream 2 was completed by September 2021, the project has since faced delays in operations due to delayed certification by German regulators and approval from the European Union. The project also suffered a setback following the suspension of the project's certification process in September 2021 by Germany's Federal Network Agency for lack of a legal entity in Germany.