The Biden administration is lifting its opposition to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 undersea pipeline, according to a joint US-German announcement last week. This decision gives Russia’s President Vladimir Putin his Holy Grail: a Europe fueled by Russian energy. Even better, Putin will give up nothing in return. Instead, he can continue his aggressive posture in the Black Sea and his threats to Ukraine’s statehood. Ukraine will lose transit fees and, more important, the geopolitical protection of Russian gas transit to Europe via its territory. Although Nord Stream 2 was built expressly to bypass Ukraine, Ukraine is supposed to believe German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s promise that its pipelines will continue to transport Russian gas in meaningful volumes. The current arrangement brings Ukraine about $3 billion a year in transit fees.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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People working at the Nord Stream 2 gas line landfall facility in Lubmin, north eastern Germany, is seen through a metal pipe on Sept. 7, 2020.
