Germany takes steps to halt Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction in Portovaya Bay some 106 miles north-west from St Petersburg, Russia, on April 9 2010 (Dmitry Lovetsky/AP)

Germany has taken steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, as the West started taking punitive measures against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

Mr Scholz told reporters in Berlin that his government was taking the measure in response to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.