NORD STREAM 2
About:
- This 1,200-kilometer pipeline goes through the Baltic Sea from Russia’s Ust-Luga to Germany’s Greifswald. It will transport 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
- In 2015, it was determined to construct this pipeline.
- The Nord Stream 1 system is now operational, and when combined with NS2P, it will provide Germany with 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Implications:
The EU’s Reliance on Russia:
- It will increase Europe’s natural gas dependence on Russia; currently, EU (European Union) countries rely on Russia for 40% of their gas needs.
Bypassing Ukraine: A pipeline currently connects Russia and Europe through Ukraine; however, if the NS2P project is done, it will bypass Ukraine, denying it a large transit fee of roughly $ 3 billion per year.
Russia has won a geopolitical victory:
- It has the potential to be a generational geopolitical success for Russia and a disaster for the US and its allies.
The United States’ New Position:
A Gentler Threat to Russia:
- The United States has chosen the gentler option of threatening Russia with consequences if it uses the pipeline to hurt Ukraine or other eastern European countries.
- On the one hand, it wants access to Russia’s hydrocarbons, but it also distrusts Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom it accuses of a series of transgressions, including the 2014 Crimean conflict and alleged meddling in US elections in 2016 and 2020.
- Germany’s own anti-Russia legislation:
- If ‘Russia attempts to utilize energy as a weapon and perform more aggressive acts against Ukraine,’ the US-Germany agreement states that Germany will impose sanctions and limit Russian exports on its own.
- Germany must “use all available leverage” to extend the current Russia-Ukraine gas transit agreement by ten years, according to the Green Fund for Ukraine.
- In addition, Germany must contribute at least $175 million to a new $1 billion “Green Fund for Ukraine” aimed at increasing the country’s energy independence.
Source: THE HINDU.
