Putin wants the world to know Russia is a superpower says expert
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The West has been scrambling to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine after it emerged that 140,000 troops were stationed at the Russia-Ukraine border. To discourage an invasion, the US has threatened “severe” sanctions, including scrapping a gas project that Moscow and Berlin will be involved in. Nord Stream 2 will transit gas from Russia to Germany, bypassing Poland and Ukraine.
While up to seven EU countries have openly opposed the project, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to explicitly agree that Nord Stream 2 will be abandoned if Russia invades.
And France too appears “hesitant” to come down too hard on Moscow, possibly as a quarter of its natural gas is supplied by Russia.
Brandon Weichert author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower told Express.co.uk that Germany and France’s soft approach is stoking division within the bloc, while Mr Putin rubs his hands together.
He said: “Thus far, the Russian strategy has worked.
“France is very hesitant to risk a wider war with Russia over Ukraine.
“As Europe moves away from the US, as the European Union collapses slowly before our eyes and NATO limps on in a reduced state, Russia is clearly moving into Europe.
“The Germans are obviously rising to welcome Russia, and the French are more than happy to help distance most of Europe away from the Americans and toward a more conciliatory tone with nearby Russia.”
Back in October, Express.co.uk spoke CEO of Ukraine gas giant Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko about Nord Stream 2.
Now as war fears soar, Nord Stream 2 is certainly proving to be a devicive issue.
Mr Vitrenko predicted that Mr Putin’s strategy with the pipeline would divide the EU, slamming former Chancellor Angela Merkel for entering into a gas deal with Moscow.
Mr Vitrenko told Express.co.uk: “Europe becomes much more divided and morally damaged because many countries like Hungary could say ‘look don’t criticize us for doing deals with Putin when you are doing deals with him yourself’.
“There is already a lot of pressure on the EU, so putting more pressure on the EU and dividing Europe, challenging the fundamentals on the EU like the rule of law, of course, it doesn’t make Europe stronger.
“It makes Europe weaker and we will see a lot of pressure on the EU as a bloc, as a union, because of this, and that’s exactly what Putin wants.”
The EU needs unanimity among its 27 member states to be able to slap down sanctions on the £8billion pipeline which the US hopes to use as “leverage” to prevent a Russian invasion.
But Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský has said that there’s “a variety of ideas” within the bloc over “which sanctions” should be slapped on Russia and “how far they should go”.
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There is a heap of countries that think Germany should be taking a harder line on the pipeline
Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania, has backed slapping sanctions on Nord Stream 2 as a measure to discourage Russia.
On a visit to Brussels, he told reporters: “I think we will raise this issue because this is one of the instruments which could be very strong in relation to Russia.”
And Arturs Karins, the prime minister of Latvia, has said: “It would be important that we could also decide that Nord Stream 2 is on the table [in terms of sanctions].
“If there is heightened military activity then this project would be turned off.”
But not every EU country has supported these calls.
Finish Prime Minister Sanna Marin reportedly told CNBC that energy “must be kept out of the conflict”.
Nord Stream 2 is said to be able to double gas volumes sent into Europe, which may be why Mr Scholz is yet to come out and say anything specific about scrapping the pipeline.
Norbert Röttgen, a lawmaker from Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party said: “By not stating the obvious about the consequences for Nord Stream 2, the chancellor creates a negative effect: Speculation about Germany’s position is given further room.”
Germany has also been slammed for its reluctance to provide Ukraine with weapons or even allow some other allies to do so, as Berlin has authorization rights.
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