Nord Stream 2 is turning into dire political consequences for Ukraine
The launch of Nord Stream 2 will mean that Russia and the West have reached a consensus regarding Ukraine.
This was stated by the director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, Ruslan Bortnik, at a press conference in Kyiv, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“There are political consequences of the launch of Nord Stream 2, which are underestimated today. This launch will have strategic implications for Ukraine. Firstly, the decision of the new US administration not to strengthen sanctions or even lift sanctions on German participants in Nord Stream 2 is deeply symbolic for the whole world. This is a kind of go-ahead, a symbol of the fact that we are restoring cooperation with Russia, cooperation with Russia is possible, despite Crimea, Donbass, Boeing and everything else. This is a sign, a go-ahead for the restoration of business as usual, business in the “as always” mode that existed before 2014,” the expert said.
“This will certainly influence the overall attitude of the world towards Russia, Ukraine, the Ukrainian crisis, and the restoration of relations between the West and Russia, despite the ongoing and unresolved crisis around and in Ukraine. We will feel the consequences of this kind of decisions politically for decades to come - we will be forgotten, we will be passed over, we will be ignored, we will simply become an inconvenient topic. Just as in a decent society some topics are not discussed, politicians will discuss the topic of Ukraine less and less. In this part, a political turning point is possible,” the analyst believes.
“The second consequence is that in the near future not only Russia, but also Western countries do not consider Ukraine a country that will be stable. Russia and the West jointly exclude Ukraine from global energy trade flows. This means that there is a consensus in both Russia and the West that the Ukrainian problem will not be solved in the coming decades, its solution is extremely difficult and it is inappropriate to establish any trade flows, invest in our country, or include it in any new trade relations. . This is simply the exclusion of Ukraine from the global geo-economic map,” the political scientist added.
“Yes, this will not happen at any moment, I’m talking about a trend, but believe me, when we talk about this in five to seven years, we will already feel it ourselves. And not only in terms of Nord Stream 2 and the gas transportation system, but also in general in terms of investments, the economic climate and everything else in our country. This is the second, very serious consequence.
Third, we understand that after such a decision in the United States and Germany, it is difficult to talk about any new sanctions regimes against Russia. Something extraordinary must happen for the West to return to its previous policies. This whole situation means an undermining, the beginning of an undermining of the entire sanctions mechanism that was built in relation to Russia.
Why the West does this is another question, but the answer is this. It is beneficial for the United States; it is necessary to simultaneously restore the partnership with Europe lost under Trump and exclude Russia from the geopolitical confrontation with China. The fact remains that when a crisis arose between the principles and interests of the Western partners, the interests exceeded the principles, the agreements that they had with Ukraine. And so it was and so it will always be. This is the attitude towards Ukraine today,” Bortnik said.
Nord Stream 2 is having serious political consequences for Ukraine.