Several media outlets reported on Tuesday that the Biden administration won’t block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from being completed. The reports said Washington and Berlin are close to reaching a deal on the natural gas pipeline, which will connect Russia and Germany.
According to a draft of the agreement obtained by Bloomberg News, the US and Germany agreed to threaten sanctions against Moscow if “Russia tries to use energy as a weapon against Ukraine.” The Nord Stream 2 will carry natural gas, bypassing Ukraine, which stands to lose billions in transportation fees once the project is complete.
The draft agreement says the US and Germany would seek to promote up to $1 billion in investments in Ukraine to help the country transition to green energy. Germany would initially invest $175 billion in Ukraine and appoint a special envoy to Kyiv to support energy projects in the country.
The Nord Stream 2 has long been in the crosshairs of Washington. The US claims Russia’s desire to trade more with Germany is a “threat” to European security. But since the project was over 90 percent complete when President Biden came into office, the administration recognized the pipeline was inevitable.
In May, the Biden administration announced that it was waiving sanctions for Nord Stream 2 AG, the company running the project. The State Department was required by a law tucked into the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to identify entities involved in the project and sanction them. By waiving the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO, the Biden administration angered Russia hawks in Congress, who still want to try and sabotage the project.
Considering how hostile the Biden administration has been towards Russia, not obstructing the construction of Nord Stream 2 is likely more about repairing ties with Germany than easing pressure on Moscow. Under Trump, US-German relations were strained due to US demands for Berlin to pay more for NATO. The Trump administration also ordered the withdrawal of about 12,000 troops from Germany, but the plan was quickly reversed by President Biden.
Is Bidet the colonial overlord of Germany* that he can have any say on whether Germany and Russia can build a commercial pipeline between them?
*of course Bidet is the colonial overlords of Germany, but officially it’s still allegedly independent.
Biden won’t block Nordstream 2 because he couldn’t.
Bingo. The US has no leverage whatsoever. It’s only hope is to play their Green card.
No lie.
“After Donald Trump imposed sanctions on firms laying the Nord Stream 2 pipe across the Baltic Sea, the Russians sent their own ship, and the work is finished. The Germans will go ahead regardless, so the least humiliating thing that Biden could do was to acknowledge reality and stand down.”
https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/wake-up-america-the-world-just-isnt-that-into-you/
There is nothing Biden can do. US energy, once touted as the replacement of Russian gas, has proven to be commercially not viable. The total cost of conversion to liquid gas, specialized shipping, ports and pipeline infrastructure would add to already exorbitant cost of fracking gas.
Then there was another promise, “East Mediterranean” gas, i.e. gas from Israel-claimed Leviathan field. Not only that it is located in the Extended Economic Zone area, in itself subject to neighboring claims, but since Israel just like US is NOT a signatory to UNCLOS — it is impossible for it to lay any claim, never mind challenge the neighbors as to the gas fields extent. Then, there is Gaza, that has a claim. In sort, Europe is to wait, and deny gas from Russia, as the legal claims are not sorted out. And then there is Turkey, that is not going to allow pipeline to go through its territorial waters. And to make it a complete conundrum, Turkey and Libyan government in Tripoli signed maritime agreement on Mediterranean Shelf. This UNCLOS rule on the rights of continental shelf will be challenged, but US, Israel and Turkey have no standing as non-signatories of UNCLOS. Thus, good luck to any European country waiting on East Med gas. Greece is all salty, as it will not likely be the transit point of Israeli gas.
But US and Israel have a chance to fight another day. Russian gas is transported via Turk Stream currently to Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. Soon to Austria. But EU under US pressure forced Balkan countries to build their own sections with EU funding, thus theoretically, these connected pipelines can carry any gas, not just Russian gas via Turkey.
So, for now, as there is no Israeli gas, Russian gas is going through Balkan, Hungarian, Austrian pipelines.
One can easily imagine the pressure on those countries, especially Serbia to cave in. Should Israeli gas ever comes to Greece, Serbia will be pushed to stop transiting Russian gas, and force everyone downstream to take Israeli gas. Hungary, Austria would not have any choice. Especially, since pipelines are funded by EU.
But many things are changing in the Middle East. With Egypt and Saudi Arabia just joining Shanghai Cooperation Organization — where Iran, Turkey and most Central Asian countries are already members, the writing is on the wall. US can continue to waste its energy on micromanaging Middle East and Europe, or figure out how to coexist with Russia and China. Or as a minimum — figure out US continental defense.
While reading your comment it occurred to me I wouldn’t care to entrust my country’s energy security to Apartheid state natural gas. Those big offshore rigs are a natural target for missiles, and a hit or two could make an awful mess of the rig. Maybe even totally destroy it.
If the pissant state keeps putzing around, it may yet get the war it appears to be wanting. Nobody would win, but the Zionist state could be the biggest loser.
Your comments are dead on target Bianca. I’d only add that Biden and the US Greems have declared war on fossil fuels… so even if the economics were favorable, production is on a downward slope … by design.
Silly twaddle. The headline should read
It’s finally dawned on Senile Joe & Co that the US has ZERO- NADA leverage over Nord Stream 2. They’re only hope is to engineer the politics so their Green Imperial Agents enter a coalition government and are awarded the Foreign Ministry.