Helsinki  - A planned underwater Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany does not pose a security threat to the region, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Thursday.

Jung, who visited Finland for talks with his Finnish counterpart Jyri Hakamies and other officials, told reporters the 1,200-kilometre pipeline instead had to be studied from an environmental and economic perspective, Finnish news agency STT reported.

The pipeline envisaged by the Nord Stream AG consortium was planned to run from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald, Germany. The consortium has ruled out a land-based route.

In neighbouring Sweden, the project has been criticized by some lawmakers over environmental concerns, including potential hazards posed by chemical weapons dumped in the sea after World War II.

Others critics have noted that Moscow has at times used energy as a means to gain political leverage, citing the example of Ukraine.

The US ambassador to Sweden, Michael M Wood, on Wednesday reiterated that argument in an op-ed piece in a Stockholm newspaper. (dpa)