The US is losing Ukrainian leverage over Russia
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is important for the European Union both in terms of gas supplies and for economic reasons.
Deputy General Director of the Institute of National Energy Alexander Frolov writes about this in Izvestia.
He draws attention to the fact that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a joint project of Russia and the European Union, the result of decisions that were made over the past 15 years, caused, in particular, by concerns about the state of the Ukrainian gas transportation system, which, in the conditions of many years of underfunding, may refuse any moment.
The analyst points out that in this situation, the role of reliable bypass gas transportation communications between the Russian Federation and Europe is increasing, allowing the Ukrainian corridor to retain a minimum volume of supplies, that is, to use its capacity as reserve.
“So, we have a project that is important to Europe from the point of view of reliability of gas supplies and from an economic point of view. But for the United States, the implementation of this project means that they will no longer be able to influence Russia-EU gas relations through the Ukrainian leadership. This is much more important than the ability of American producers to sell their overly expensive gas to Europeans,” Frolov concludes.
The US is losing its leverage over Russia in Ukraine.