![]() Some of Europe agrees some of Europe doesn’t, or doesn’t really want to say too much either way. Germany has framed Nord Stream 2 as a “commercial project” essential to German industry and wants to see it operational. “The thinking is that as long as that remains a critical transit corridor for Russian supplies to get to market, Russia maybe is less likely to interfere or to disrupt that source of transit,” said Emily Holland, assistant professor in the Russia Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. Once Nord Stream 2 is online, Russia will no longer need to pay transit fees to send gas through Ukraine, and both Russia and Europe have less need to rely on the pipeline that runs through Ukraine. Ukraine definitely sees it this way too and wants the pipeline stopped. The United States sees the pipeline as a Russian geopolitical tool to undermine Europe’s energy and national security. Experts said the pipeline will not dramatically increase Russian natural gas imports to Europe, but it could reroute it - meaning more natural gas will flow directly to Germany and potentially bypass other existing pipelines that run through other European countries. It is laid alongside Nord Stream 1, which flows from Russia along the Baltic Sea and directly into Germany. When it’s up and running, Nord Stream 2 will bring natural gas from Russia to Europe. The project in question is Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion Russian-owned pipeline that has Washington in a difficult position with some of its European allies, divided other European countries among themselves, and weakened Ukraine. In this frightening morass, there’s one low-key wild card: a long-running energy infrastructure project that some consider an economic project, others consider a geopolitical tool of Russia, and that is a combination of all of those and more. ![]() Russia has gathered troops along the Ukrainian border, Washington and Moscow engaged in a week of high-stakes negotiations, and NATO and European allies are trying to avoid a conflict that seems more likely by the day.
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