Wednesday, February 17, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 17, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Security Challenges in the Baltic States, Ukraine and Belarus: Nord Stream-2 Pipeline and Russia

Nord Stream (former names: North Transgas and North European Gas PipelineRussian: Северный поток, Severny potok) is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. It includes two active pipelines running from Vyborg to Lubmin near Greifswald forming the original Nord Stream, and two further pipelines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Lubmin termed Nord Stream 2. In Lubmin the lines connect to the OPAL line to Olbernhau on the Czech border and to the NEL line to Rehden near Bremen.
The original Nord Stream is owned and operated by Nord Stream AG, whose majority shareholder is the Russian state company Gazprom, and Nord Stream 2 is owned and will be operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, which is also a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom.

The first line of Nord Stream (also known as Nord Stream 1[1]) was laid by May 2011 and was inaugurated on 8 November 2011.[2][3] The second line of Nord Stream was laid in 2011–2012 and was inaugurated on 8 October 2012. At 1,222 km (759 mi) in length, Nord Stream is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world, surpassing the Langeled pipeline.[4][5] Laying Nord Stream 2 was carried out in 2018–2019, and before the imposition of U.S. sanctions which halted the work, it was expected to become operational in mid-2020.[6]

Nord Stream has a total annual capacity of 55 billion m3 (1.9 trillion cu ft) of gas, and the addition of Nord Stream 2 is expected to double this capacity to a total of 110 billion m3 (3.9 trillion cu ft).[7][8][9]
Nord Stream projects have been opposed by the United States as well as by several Central and Eastern European countries because of concerns that the pipelines would increase Russia's influence in the region. The U.S. resistance to Nord Stream 2 is also influenced by the country's increased production of natural gas, which gives the U.S. Congress economic incentive to resist the Russian supply of gas to the EU, in favour of U.S. shale gas.[10]

The name "Nord Stream" occasionally refers to a wider pipeline network, including the feeding onshore pipeline in the Russian Federation, and further connections in Western Europe. Nord Stream 2 should be completed by the first half of 2021.[11]
source from Wikipedia


Construction on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline resumed in earnest on Feb. 6 after more than a year. A gas-line facility in Germany was photographed in September.
Biden Administration Reviews Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
U.S. considers whether to waive or impose sanctions on builders of Russian gas pipeline

Feb 17 - WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is reviewing U.S. policy toward a pipeline designed to carry Russian natural gas to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, under new pressure after construction on the $11 billion project resumed this month, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

The undersea pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is more than 90% completed, with about 100 miles remaining. Construction resumed in earnest on Feb. 6, more than a year after it came to a halt in the face of opposition from the Trump administration and acts of Congress authorizing sanctions on companies and individuals involved in the project. The Biden administration hasn’t thus far imposed sanctions required by law.

The Biden administration has opened talks with Berlin on the future of the pipeline, including “threats of sanctions against companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2,” a German official said.

The administration on Tuesday faces a deadline to report a list of companies it deems in violation of the U.S. laws aimed at halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Those companies would be potential targets for U.S. sanctions. The Biden administration could also waive the application of sanctions under a national-interest clause, placating Germany, a critical European ally, handing Russia a geopolitical victory, and crossing a bipartisan coalition in Congress.      source


Workers at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline near the town of Kingisepp, Leningrad Region, Russia, June 5, 2019.
Putin’s Corrupt Pipeline Is on Life Support

Unless the Biden administration refuses to enforce the law, the Nord Stream 2 project is going to die. The question is who gets credit for killing it.

Feb. 16 - With the detention and sentencing of Alexei Navalny and the arrest of thousands of peaceful Russian protesters, the divisive Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline has once again returned to the forefront of political discourse in Europe and the United States.

The new Biden team has struck the right rhetorical note, arguing that NS2 is “a bad deal for Europe” and promising that the U.S. will not “roll over” for Russia. Since Navalny’s arrest and sentencing, key European figures have stepped up their rhetoric as well. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.K.’s House of Commons, has on multiple occasions advocated for NS2 to be killed. By an overwhelming 581–50 margin, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU to “immediately” halt work on NS2. Even the French, who up until recently backed Germany in support of the project, have changed their tune. When asked earlier this month if France was in favor of abandoning the project, Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune confirmed that it was.

At this point, the international leaders who support NS2 could very likely be counted on one hand. Among them are German chancellor Angela Merkel; Merkel’s likely successor, Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU); Russian president Vladimir Putin; and the ex-Stasi intelligence officer who is now the pipeline project’s CEO, Matthias Warnig. On February 5, Laschet insisted that Germany would not abandon NS2 in the wake of Navalny’s sentencing and the mass detention of protesters in Russia. “Feel-good moralizing and domestic slogans are not foreign policy,” he said with an obvious note of disdain.     continue to read

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