America’s war in Ukraine is not just against Russia, but America’s biggest trade rival too.
Nord Stream is a network of offshore natural gas pipelines which run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany to provide Western Europe with natural gas. It comprises two separate projects, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Both each comprise two pipes, for a total of 4 physical pipes. Both start in Russia and land in Lubmin, Germany. They are majority owned (51 %) by Russia, with German, Dutch and French stakeholders. They were financed by a consortium of companies from Russia, Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands. It was the first pipeline that bypassed Ukraine and Poland to deliver Russian natural gas directly to West Europe. The project was opposed from the start by the USA, who imposed sanctions on companies involved in the project. The U.S. sanctions were criticized heavily by German politicians as “a serious interference in the internal affairs of Germany and Europe and their sovereignty”.
See also, Ukraine: Europe’s anger at Washington
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