Leonid Slutsky:
“The Appropriations Committee of the lower house of the US Congress approved an amendment to overturn the decisions of the US administration to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2. The corresponding bill must now be passed by the House of Representatives and then by the Senate.
Fanatical stubbornness of congressmen in attempts to prevent the implementation of SP-2 is worthy of better application. The project, which is exclusively economic in nature, is almost completed. The offshore section of the first string of Nord Stream 2 has been technically laid, and work is underway on the second string.
Nord Stream 2 is beneficial primarily to Europe, and the Europeans themselves admit it. According to a study by the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce, the majority of German companies operating in Russia support the project; more than a third of those surveyed believe that it is indispensable for the economy of their country.
But the United States does not care about the needs of its Euro-Atlantic allies, with whom Washington is so fond of talking about unity. In recent years, the United States, by hook or by crook, with the help of sanctions and blackmail, tried to clean up the European market for its liquefied natural gas – a more expensive and difficult to transport raw material. Ukraine was one of the levers of pressure. Allegedly, Nord Stream can allow Russia to put pressure on Kiev, depriving it of gas transit.
All this is just an unfair competition in the gas market on the part of the United States, which sooner or later will be lost by them. But all the fuss over Nord Stream 2 is the clearest example of Washington’s selfish methods to advance its geopolitical and economic interests, including through the “sanctions cudgel.” When will the eyes of the European partners finally open? “
