Puppet Masters
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Victoria Nuland also noted that Washington is considering further sanctions against the system if Russia were to invade Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 was completed in September but is yet to be certified and has not yet begun operations. It directly connects Russia to Germany, cutting out any third-party countries, which could significantly lower the price of gas. Washington has repeatedly sanctioned the system, claiming that it threatens Europe's 'energy security', while some have accused the US of cynically trying to stop the pipeline so it can sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the continent.
"What we are doing now is working with the Germans, working with the EU to slow their consideration of the implementation of the pipeline," she said. "This German Government has taken significant steps to do that, and they've also reconfirmed the agreement we had with the previous government with regard to what happens to Nord Stream 2 - namely, it's suspended if Russia aggresses against Ukraine."
Approval of the project, which could have come this month, was suspended in mid-November by the German Federal Network Agency, the Bundesnetzagentur, over a regulatory issue regarding the operator's lack of premises inside Germany. However, despite Berlin's description of the delay as simply an interim step, the US appears to be attempting to make it permanent.
Earlier this week, influential German politician Michael Kretschmer, the prime minister of Saxony, suggested that America had derailed the controversial natural gas pipeline for its selfish economic reasons.
"What has preoccupied us all most in recent months is the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has been torpedoed by the Americans for reasons of energy policy self-interest," Kretschmer said.
Reader Comments
Signed:
JOE BIDEN
are in command of the USA
This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This rooster (hen) will go to its death, while I will enter and proceed to a good long life and to peace
The stupid European politicians are too dumb to see that, or maybe they don't care, so long as the US and the IMF keep depositing money in their Swiss bank accounts.You excluded the possibility that they harm their countries deliberately, because they are told to do so.
I wonder how many of them fall into the dual-passport category, like currently observable in the Ukraine.
Comment: From the perspective of the ailing and desperate US hegemon, it has a lot more to lose than just 'energy policy self-interest', because projects like Nord Stream II demonstrate Russia's integral position on the world stage, and cheap and reliable gas deals based on a mutually beneficial relationship is not something the US wants its lackeys, like Germany, to become accustomed to: