Germany on Tuesday halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea natural gas pipeline project designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany a day after Mo
Germany on Tuesday halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea natural gas pipeline project designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany, a day after Moscow formally recognized the Russian-occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent states. What is Nord Stream 2? The more than $11 billion project that has bothered Germany’s allies was completed in September but has been idle pending certification by Germany and the European Union. Nord Stream 2 was halted as it was set to ease pressure on European consumers facing soaring energy prices and governments that have spent billions of dollars to limit the impact on their citizens. The 1,200-kilometer underwater Nord Stream 2 follows the same path as Nord Stream 1, which was finished more than a decade ago. Like Nord Stream 1, the idle pipeline is capable of transporting 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to elsewhere in Europe, potentially boosting the continent’s access to relatively low-priced gas when domestic production is declining. Why did Germany support Nord Stream 2? Germany, which gets half its gas from Russia, maintained the pipeline was mainly a commercial project to diversify energy supplies for Europe. Germany aggressively pursued the pipeline for years, working through the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, several spying scandals and multiple cyberattacks. Even as some 150,000 Russian troops steadily assembled on Ukraine’s borders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not mention the name of the pipeline when asked about possible sanctions against Russia. FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, in Moscow, Feb.
