Senior Advisor for Energy Security to U.S. Secretary of State Amos Hochstein will visit Kyiv this week to discuss the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Advisor to the Ukrainian Energy Minister Lana Zerkal has said.

"At the end of this week, we will continue talking about this in Kyiv, which Amos Hochstein will visit. His work is aimed at ensuring energy security in Europe and resolving issues related to the implementation of the agreement reached between the U.S. President and the German Chancellor," she said on the Ukraina 24 TV.

Zerkal recalled that Germany is to certify the pipeline operator, the full subsidiary of Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 AG, and the European Commission shall confirm the certification.

"The gas pipeline cannot start operating until the certification is completed, but we already see that Russia plans to launch the gas pipeline without waiting for all decisions on certification," she said.

At the same time, Zerkal said that U.S. President Joe Biden has the necessary tools and powers to impose sanctions.

The adviser to the Ukrainian Miniser of Energy said that the transfer of Europe to supply gas from the Russian Federation only through the pipelines controlled by Gazprom – NS1, NS2 and TurkStream will significantly worsen the energy security of European countries.

As reported, early August, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when appointing Hochstein, said that he would be in charge of the Nord Stream 2 topic.