Washington is losing the battle for Nord Stream 2
The United States is putting a good face on a bad game, realizing that it is unable to prevent the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Stanislav Mitrakhovich, an expert at the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, stated this in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
He was asked why the United States abandoned sanctions against the operating company SP-2, but introduced them against Russian ships laying a pipe along the seabed.
“The Americans simply realize that it is no longer possible to stop the project. And now they have to put a good face on a bad game - introduce some kind of sanctions, but not so tough as to quarrel with Germany, the main country in Europe interested in completing the construction of Nord Stream 2. That is, formally the United States continues to fight the project, but de facto, indirectly, they admitted that they cannot block it,” Mitrokhovich said.
At the same time, he believes that the Americans will continue to put a spoke in the wheels, and their position may change at any moment.
“But we were ready for this before. Russian ships are currently working at the construction site; they are calling at German ports. There is an agreement for the German side to fulfill its functions and, at a minimum, not interfere. They even created a regional environmental fund, which takes over part of the contracts and acts as an intermediary between Russian and German businesses. This eliminates political pressure,” the expert believes.
The publication’s interlocutor calls the current situation around the project excellent news for Russia.
“But not because America decided to show us mercy, but because Russia behaved so competently that they simply had no other choice. They tried to intimidate us, they said that no insurers would work with us (and without this it is impossible). I think this is a very great success for Russia. It will be necessary to make a film about how this pipeline was built and include it in diplomacy textbooks,” the expert notes.
He also said whether Russian pipelayers will be able to continue working under sanctions.
“In Europe they will be able to, but in the USA they won’t. They cannot enter American ports; they will not be able to use dollar transactions. But they are not going there. It is important that Europe does not impose sanctions. We managed to find a solution to all these problems. Although, they may exist after construction - with antimonopoly regulation or something similar. But nevertheless, the news itself that the Americans are not ready to hit backhand is positive for us and for Europe,” Mitrakhovich concluded.
As PolitNavigator reported, Kyiv has acknowledged that there is no longer a chance of stopping Nord Stream 2.
Washington is losing the battle for Nord Stream 2.