Wednesday January 12, 2022
In the case of an invasion of Ukraine
USA threaten Moscow with Aus for Nord Stream 2
If Russia invades Ukraine, the US wants to respond with a whole series of sanctions. The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is also being targeted. A draft law will prevent it from going into operation in the event of an attack.
The US is threatening Russia with an end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline through the Baltic Sea in the event of aggression against Ukraine. US Democrats presented a bill in Washington that provides for sanctions against Russian government officials and banks, but also measures against Nord Stream 2, which is supposed to bring more Russian gas to Western Europe.
In the initiative supported by the Presidential Office it is said that the pipeline is an “instrument of the negative influence of the Russian Federation”. In the event of an attack on Ukraine “all possible and reasonable steps” should be taken to prevent it from operating.
The background to this is the deployment of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and the concerns of Western governments and Ukraine about an attack. “In our opinion, it is very difficult for gas to flow through the pipeline or for it to go into operation at all if Russia repeats its aggression against Ukraine,” said US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels. It reiterated the US position that the pipeline undermines European energy and security interests.
SPD politicians warn of sanctions
The federal government has repeatedly rejected this. In the new traffic light coalition, however, the Greens are clear critics of the pipeline. The USA is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is also supplied to Europe. In the SPD, on the other hand, there are increasing voices warning of a sanctions debate against the Baltic Sea gas pipeline. This is “a wrong attitude and a wrong discussion,” said the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast. No tougher sanctions are currently being prepared.
“Should there be a new debate about tightened sanctions against Russia, all things must be on the table without reservation. This includes Nord Stream 2, but that also includes many other things,” she emphasized. Incidentally, there is currently no gas flowing through the pipeline at all, said Mast. A stop would therefore have no immediate effect. “Narrowing the debate down to Nord Stream 2 is the real problem.”
The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andreii Melnyk, had asked the Ampel coalition to “scrap the pipeline on the bottom of the Baltic Sea”. SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, on the other hand, called for an end to the domestic political debate about Nord Stream 2.