Nordstream 2: USA and Germany agree


It is a “bad situation and a bad gas pipeline”, the White House believes. But the USA and Germany have now still agreed on how Nordstream 2 should be handled.

The United States has long criticized Nordstream 2, the soon-to-be-completed gas pipeline that the country fears will make Germany and Europe increasingly dependent on energy imports from Russia.

There have been lengthy discussions about how the US security policy concerns can be allayed while Germany’s energy needs are secured. In addition, the United States has wanted to safeguard the interests of its ally Ukraine.

Read more: Swedish yes to the controversial gas pipeline Nordstream

The issue dominated the agenda when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited US President Joe Biden in Washington last week. It is now announced that the countries have reached an agreement on the controversial project.

Read more: Nord Stream 2 is subject to US sanctions

In this agreement with us, Germany has committed itself to action at national level and to push for effective action at European level, including sanctions to reduce Russia’s export capacity to Europe’s energy sector, if Russia tries to use energy as a weapon or direct more aggressive actions. against Ukraine, says Victoria Nuland, top official at the US State Department.

Will press Russia

Ukraine today makes money from Russian natural gas passing through its territory. The status of a transit country is also one of the few means of power that Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass since 2014, has against its powerful neighbor.

The transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires in 2024, but Germany has now undertaken to try to pressure Russia to a ten-year extension.

Read more: Nord Stream 2 decision sawn in Denmark – praised by Putin

Hours before the US announcement, Merkel had a telephone meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Russian president and the German chancellor touched on the possibility of extending an agreement between Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz on gas supplies through Ukrainian territory,” the Kremlin said in a statement, without giving further details.

Ukraine in focus

Germany has also committed itself to supporting Ukraine with the equivalent of almost ten billion Swedish kronor.

“We will help Ukraine build a green energy sector and push to secure gas transportation through Ukraine in the coming decade,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote on Twitter, adding:

“I am relieved that we, together with the United States, have found a constructive solution regarding Nordstream 2.”

Read more: Ukraine roars against Nordstream 2

On Wednesday, the White House also announced that Biden welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington. The visit has been planned for some time, but the date – August 30 – was only released in connection with the presentation of the agreement.

“The visit will reaffirm the United States’ steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the light of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbass and Crimea,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

Despite all attempts to calm Ukraine, unrest seems to be bubbling in Kiev. Just hours after the agreement, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced on Twitter that the country “officially initiates consultations” with the EU and Germany because the gas pipeline “threatens Ukraine’s security”.

“Sharing bed with Putin”

In the United States, the agreement was immediately met by attacks by Republicans, who spoke of a policy of concessions to Russia.

– We have always known that Biden shares a bed with Putin. Now they are spooning, says Texas senator Ted Cruz.

The White House admits that it would have been better if Nordstream 2 had never been built.

– This is a bad situation and a bad gas pipeline, but we must protect Ukraine and I think we have taken some big steps in that direction, says Nuland.

Read more: The US is pushing Merkel for Nordstream 2

Veteran Nuland, who also worked on foreign affairs during Barack Obama’s presidency, also replicated on the mockery of Ted Cruz – a leading supporter of former US President Donald Trump.

– In 2016, we were about to stop the gas pipeline. When the Biden government took office four years later, the gas pipeline was 90 percent complete.

Facts about Nordstream 2

Nordstream 2 is an almost completed gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, between the Gulf of Narva in Russia and Greifswald in northern Germany. The management runs in parallel with the previous Nordstream management, which was inaugurated in 2011.

The project is majority owned by state-owned Russian Gazprom, but the owners also include a number of large European energy companies.

Nordstream 2 will increase the capacity for natural gas deliveries from Russia to Germany. Through a direct line in the Baltic Sea, Ukraine loses its role as a transit country for Russian gas. Critics of the project believe that Nordstream 2 would make Germany and the EU too dependent on Russia, while proponents point out that the management would help meet the increased energy needs that have arisen, among other things, as a result of Germany’s dismantling of nuclear power.


Releated

Boat and mysterious group named in Nord Stream investigation

SOCIETY Web map of the gas line’s route and Rostock marked where a boat involved in the explosions may have left.Björn Hellström A rented boat that left Rostock, Germany, is suspected of being connected to the explosions of the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, according to information in several German media. Prosecutors in […]