On Thursday, January 27, the United States, together with Germany, warned Russia that if it attacks Ukraine, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will no longer work. “If Russia invades Ukraine in one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not budge,” said US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. She pointed out that on January 27, Berlin made a number of very “tough statements”.
“Together with Germany, we will continue to work together to ensure that this project does not materialize,” Nuland assured, referring to the joint agreement, which also provides for measures from Germany, “capable of ensuring that Russia does not use any pipeline, including including Nord Stream 2, to achieve aggressive political goals, using energy as a weapon.”
She also pointed out that the United States is ready for bilateral negotiations with the Russian Federation and is waiting for its reaction to Washington’s written response, provided after Moscow’s demands for “security guarantees.” According to Nuland, these answers “open up a real opportunity to improve security in the Euro-Atlantic region if Moscow chooses the path of diplomacy, rather than conflict and sabotage.”
The White House also announced that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit the United States on February 7 to discuss possible “Russian aggression against Ukraine” with President Joe Biden.
The United States agreed with Ukraine on the response to Moscow
The United States informed Ukraine in advance of the content of its response to Russia’s demands for “security guarantees.” “We saw the US written response before it was handed over to Russia. There are no objections from the Ukrainian side. It is important that the US remains in close contact with Ukraine before and after all contacts with Russia. No decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine. The golden rule,” – wrote the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba on January 27.
Up to 120,000 Russian troops may be stationed near the Ukrainian border
Earlier in the day, the dpa agency, citing data from Western intelligence agencies, reported that Russia has recently continued to rapidly deploy military personnel to the border with Ukraine and increased the contingent in the border areas to 112-120 thousand. This figure does not take into account the armed forces of pro-Russian separatists in the Ukrainian Donbass, whose number is estimated at about 35,000 people, dpa pointed out.
In the second half of 2021, the Russian Federation deployed about 100 thousand military personnel to the annexed Crimea and to the border with Ukraine under the pretext of conducting exercises. The West suspects Russia of intending to invade Ukraine again, but the Kremlin denies any such plans.
A series of Russian talks with the United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have not produced any results. The West threatens Russia with unprecedented sanctions in the event of a new invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, in turn, accuses Western countries of arming Ukraine and conducting maneuvers near Russian borders.
See also:
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Nord Stream 2 awaits certification
The Nord Stream 2 receiving terminal in Lubmin, Germany, is completely ready from autumn 2021. However, Gazprom still needs to prove that the gas pipeline complies with EU antimonopoly laws, otherwise it will be impossible to operate both of its strings. In Germany and the European Union, many months are allotted for certification. The adoption of the decision will be the event of the year for the gas market, but it will not happen until the second half of the summer.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Will Gazprom fill its UGS facilities?
The European Union entered 2022 with the lowest blue fuel stocks in many years and record prices for it. The level of injection was especially low in the gas storage facilities of the Russian state company Gazprom in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. In the largest German UGS facility Rehden (pictured), it fell below 5% in autumn. The intrigue of the year is whether last year’s situation will repeat itself – and how this will be treated in the EU.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Germany needs new gas-fired power plants
A very symbolic picture for today’s Germany: the city of Hamm, in the background – a closed coal-fired power plant, in the foreground – an operating gas one. The German government intends to urgently launch the construction of gas-fired thermal power plants throughout the country so that they insure renewable energy in the face of the rejection of nuclear and coal. So gas suppliers have good prospects in the main EU market.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Norway increased production and supplies
Norway has been supplying Germany with gas for over 40 years, and Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned company, has benefited the most from the rise in gas prices in Europe. It maximized supplies to the EU spot market. Including from the world’s largest gas platform Troll A. Production and transport infrastructure at this giant oil and gas field in the North Sea have just been expanded and modernized by the fall of 2021.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
LNG tankers headed for Europe
The high cost of gas in the European market has led to a reorientation of global flows of liquefied natural gas. For a number of manufacturers, including American ones, it became more profitable to supply it to Europe, and not to Asia, where prices were much higher for a long time. The picture shows another tanker entering the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Increasing the share of LNG in the EU market is one of the main trends in 2022.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Poland switches to Baltic Pipe
By the end of 2022, Poland’s long-term contract with Gazprom expires, and it is not going to renew it, since it plans to continue to receive the same 10 billion cubic meters per year through the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline. It is being built with the support of the EU to supply gas from Norway through Denmark. The most difficult part of the project – laying pipes along the bottom of the Baltic Sea – was completed at the end of 2021.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Turkey prepares to produce its own gas
Recep Tayyip Erdogan wished good luck to the drilling vessel Fatih, and its exploration work in the Black Sea in 2020 and 2021 was a success. Turkey announced the discovery of large gas fields, and its president promised to start exploiting them as early as 2023. How realistic plans are to quickly reduce dependence on supplies from Russia and Azerbaijan will become clear during the course of this year.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
Bulgaria is waiting for gas from Azerbaijan
Due to the pandemic and commercial miscalculations, the ICGB project was delayed: the interconnector connecting Bulgaria with Greece and the TAP gas pipeline was supposed to be put into operation at the end of 2020. Now in Sofia they hope that it will start working by the beginning of the new heating season, so that they can finally receive the gas contracted from Azerbaijan in full and be less dependent on Gazprom’s Turkish Stream.
-
European gas market 2022: projects, events, trends
The fate of EastMed is in question
In January 2020, the leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel decided to build the EastMed underwater gas pipeline to deliver gas to the EU from offshore fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. In January 2022, the United States stopped supporting this project, and the EU, where they also want to speed up the development of “green” energy, began to doubt its expediency. The further fate of the project is another gas intrigue of the year.
Author: Andrey Gurkov
