International
Russian gas pipeline divides the West and ‘punishes’ Ukraine
Germany wants cheap Russian gas via Nord Stream 2, while Ukraine fears economic ruin.
Kiev, Ukraine – A geopolitical wedge that deepens tensions between the United States and Germany. A means to make Europe more dependable on Russia’s energy supplies. A tool designed to turn a nation into the Kremlin’s vassal.
This is not a description of any Russian plot to meddle in elections, back its far-right loyalists or sow discord in Europe. This is how US President Donald Trump’s administration and leaders in Ukraine view Nord Stream 2, the world’s longest offshore pipeline, which is being built under the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea to circumvent Ukraine and transport up to 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas to Germany.
US Vice President Mike Pence said in April that Germany would become “literally a captive of Russia” once the $11bn, 1,200km project is completed, doubling Russian gas supplies to Germany by 2020.
Meanwhile, Washington threatened to sanction each and every company involved in the project, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Kremlin uses energy “as a lever of pressure on Europe”. Following other disagreements, Pompeo cancelled a visit to Germany that had been scheduled for Tuesday.
This is where Washington’s stance fully aligns with that of Kiev. Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymir Zelensky, has urged the West to thwart the pipeline’s completion and step up sanctions against Russia.
“Stronger sanctions against Russia because of its aggression [against Ukraine] is indeed our big hope,” Zelensky said on May 21 after meeting European Union energy officials in Kiev. “We will be grateful for the EU’s solidarity in the matter of countering the completion of Nord Stream 2.”
His predecessor struck a more ominous tone.
“North Stream 2 is the Kremlin’s Trojan horse against European energy and, ultimately, geopolitical security,” said Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s former president, in August 2018.
Ukraine’s neighbours – mainly Poland and the Baltic states – are the main EU opponents of the pipeline. In a joint letter published last year, they said Nord Stream 2 “should be seen in the broader context of today’s Russian information and cyber-hostilities and military aggression”.
But their economies and political clout are minuscule in comparison with Germany’s, and Berlin disregards their complaints.