Not surprisingly, Ukraine immediately objected, realizing that one of Putin’s goals was to route more gas around Ukraine, depriving the country of the transit fees it was accustomed to receiving for Russian gas imported by Europe through the old Soviet-era pipelines. But a new pipeline would do more than deprive Ukraine of up to $3 billion a year; it would also deprive it of the potential power that comes from the ability to shut off exports from Russia in the event of a confrontation—or a war—with Moscow. “Nord Stream 2 is a political bribe for loyalty to Russia, imposing an economic and
...more
