How Russia and Germany will gas on Nord Stream 2 also with hydrogen

The Nord Stream 2 issue, the doubling of the gas pipeline under the Baltic between Russia and Germany, agitates the minds of many, between Europe and the United States, and in the duel between those who would like to complete it and those who instead stop the propaganda in the in recent months it has played an increasing role. Especially on the side of those who would like to force the German government of Angela Merkel to abandon the project, the media and political tam tam has multiplied in the wake of the new Cold War between Russia and the West.

The United States, from Obama through Trump and now with Biden, have led the duel to the sound of sanctions to block the project, which has now reached the last kilometers, on a tightrope. In Germany and throughout Europe, especially in the former Soviet one, Washington's geopolitical satellites have followed suit, from Poland to the Baltic Republics and obviously to Ukraine. Everywhere a media and political campaign to stop what has been declared a sort of Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in an energy sauce.

Merkel, certainly not a friend of Vladimir Putin, but with a very pragmatic vision of international relations and the weight of Germany in Europe and in the world, has not succumbed to American pressure and despite the Russian wargames has always held the bar straight for the completion of the second section of the gas pipeline that directly connects Russia and Germany, essentially cutting out Ukraine.

In this context, this is certainly not surprising, given that Berlin now follows its own national interests in a strategic sector, the energy sector, in which no one wants to dictate the line, much less the United States, to which, even within the framework of transatlantic alliance, they do not want to give gifts. Rather, it is interesting to note that in the infowar of recent months, Russia has not made a turn, leaving room for the anti-Nord Stream 2 campaigns in Europe, as if the problem were only German.

Why? Putin has long since decided to shift the Russian center of gravity from west to east, towards China.

The Ukrainian crisis of 2013-14, with what was rightly called a pro-Western coup in Moscow, changed the cards. The annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbass, which arrived following the regime change in Kiev, in turn provoked the Western reaction with the isolation and sanctions that inevitably led Moscow to Beijing. Nord Stream 1-2, created to bypass Ukraine, is just one of several Russian projects that have already begun to move from the European to the Asian side. If Europe still needs Russian gas for a couple of decades at least, China and neighboring countries have even more.

And if the second arm of Nord Stream were blocked in the near future by sanctions or in any case by political decisions that only Germany can take, Russian gas would still flow through Ukrainian pipes until 2024 (the contract between Moscow and Kiev is renewable for other ten years until 2035, but there are no obligations). Gazprom's major projects concern Siberia and the Russian Far East and the partnership with China. Blowing up Nord Stream would be a more digestible pill for Putin than the one that should swallow Merkel or whoever will arrive next autumn at the Kanzleramt.

The Kremlin can afford to pull the rope on all fronts it wants, knowing that Germany has no intention of shooting itself in the foot anyway. Anyone who has any doubts can take a look at the energy memorandum signed between the two countries at the end of April centered on collaboration in the sustainable energy sector. In a nutshell, Nord Stream 2 will be completed and it is likely that in the future it will also be used to pump hydrogen, a new source on which Moscow and Berlin aim in the post natural gas era.

eastsidereport.info