Anyone with common sense saw Russia using NORD Stream 2 Pipeline as leverage coming. With tensions rising in the Ukraine Russia is now has it’s ace in the hole.
Russia can use the NORD Stream 2 Pipeline as leverage and there is not much that can stop them. Will Valdimir Putin use this as a way of getting NATO, the U.S. and EU of backing off their threatened sanctions against Russia if they invade the Ukraine? It seems very plausible as this would create a big disruption in future gas flow to Germany and Western Europe.
What is the NORD Stream 2 Pipeline?
From Wikipedia: Nord Stream (Russian: Северный поток, Severny potok) is a system of offshore natural gaspipelines in Europe, running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. It includes two pipelines running from Vyborg to Lubmin near Greifswald forming the original Nord Stream (also known as Nord Stream 1;[1] former names: North Transgas and North European Gas Pipeline), and two further pipelines running from Ust-Luga to Lubmin termed Nord Stream 2. In Lubmin Nord Stream 1 is connected to the OPAL pipeline to Olbernhau on the Czech border and to the NEL pipeline to Rehden near Bremen.
Biden Administration gives Green Light
The Biden Administration gave the green light on the pipeline in June of 2021. All while Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline here in the United States, costing jobs and raised energy costs. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Nord Stream 2 completion was inevitable. So they just threw their hands up and gave the go ahead. Even though Russia was told not to use the pipeline as a “Political Weapon” does anyone really think they wouldn’t??? Common sense which seems to be severely lacking in the current administration would tell you that is exactly what Russia’s intention was.
How will this play out
No one really knows how it will play out. Anyone can speculate and war game it but in the end only time will tell. I certainly hope the Ukraine conflict does not escalate into a shooting war. That would be nothing short of a catastrophe for all involved.
