Russian Federation may have other plans for Germany over the long cold winter. German Economic Minister Robert Habeck worries that what looks like routine maintenance today could morph into a Russian blackmail scheme on Germany. Germany’s 64-year-old Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed Feb. 22, only two days before the Ukraine War, to suspend the Nord Stream 2 pipeline the $12 billion newest-and-greatest pipeline to supply Germany for generations. But since the Feb. 24 Ukraine War, President Joe Biden insisted that the TransAtlantic Alliance suspend all oil-and-natural gas sales with the Russian Federation. Germany receives about 35% of its natural gas supplies for the Russian Federation, something all NATO countries are encouraged to wean off. Habeck worries that Putin could blackmail Europe.
Habeck worries about a “nightmare scenario” where Russia never returns to supplying Germany with natural gas, leaving Germans out in the cold this winter. “Everything is possible, everything can happen, ”Habeck told Deutschlandfunk radio on Sunday.” “We have to prepare for the worst,” not certain whether Russia’s routine maintenance on Nord Stream 1 will end Germany’s access to Russian natural gas. Scholz knows that he breached the $12 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, all because of pressure from the United States, pitting Europeans into a vulnerable state heading into the winter. When it comes to the border dispute between Ukraine and the Kremlin, EU leaders closed ranks behind the U.S., not realizing that Biden’s Ukraine policy has caused oil and natural gas shortages and skyrocketing prices, leading to the worst inflation in the U.S. and Europe in 40 years.
Europeans, especially Germans, are beginning to question why should we all suffer because Biden has overstepped his boundaries in Ukraine, setting up the former Soviet satellite as a puppet U.S. state. EU leaders understand the consequence to turning Russia into a mortal enemy. Before the Ukraine War the EU imported some 40% of its energy from the Russian Federation. Biden expects that because he chose to fund the Ukraine government and prosecute a proxy war against the Russian Federation. No one in Brussels wanted Biden to go all in on the war to topple Putin’s government. French President Emmanue Macron, 45, has taken a lot of heat for trying to keep communication channels open with Putin, hoping to move the conflict to the peace table. Zelensky and Biden, without proof, insist that Putin has his eyes on seizing other former Soviet satellites like the Baltic States.
Biden told his EU counterparts in the European Commission and European Council that Putin aims at conquering an unknown number of EU states. But the situation in Ukraine was a unique one because it shares a long border with the Russian Federation. When Putin watched the U.S. arming Ukraine to the teeth months before the Feb. 24 invasion, the U.S. knew there would be consequences. No one in the EU wants Biden messing with peace on the European Continent. Biden’s decision to turn the Ukraine war into a U.S. proxy war using Ukraine troops to topple Putin’s government was never part of the plan for the EU. Macron and other EU leaders want the conflict to end at the earliest possible time, even if it means Ukraine sacrifices a considerable part of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Putin offered Ukraine a deal at the outset of the war, totally rejected by Zelensky and Biden.
U.S. and EU citizens all ask why they must sacrifice their amenities because Zelensky and Biden decided to take on the Russian Federation? If the EU continued with its natural gas and oil purchases from Russia, they wouldn’t face shortages and skyrocketing prices. Germany’s Habeck said he’s taking shorter showers, taking other steps at conservation. But why should anyone in the U.S. or EU have to suffer because of Biden and Zelensky’s failed war policy? Ukraine’s conflict should have gone to the peace table long ago, not continuing supply more lethal arms to Kiev. Because Biden and Zelensky miscalculated to take on the Russian Federaiton, doesn’t mean the U.S. and EU citizens should suffer. Biden and Zelensky aren’t going to take down the Russian Federation. Both are thoroughly humiliated by how much damage they’ve done to Ukraine and world economy.
Zelensky got bent out of shape when Canada decided to return a repaired turbine back to Russia to repair the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Zelensky needs to manage his own aaffairs without letting it spill over to the U.S. and EU economy. Zelensky has stated many times that he believes WW III is already happening in Ukraine, so why not suck the U.S. and NATO into the conflict. “This dangerous precedent violates international solidarity, goes against the principle of the rule of law and will have only one consequence: It will strengthen Moscow’s sense of impunity,” said Ukraine’s Foreign and Energy ministries. Ukraine should resolve its conflict with Russia without forcing the world to suffer from its bad mistakes, including letting the U.S. supply it with unlimited lethal weapons. Ukraine has no business telling Canada what to do with a turbine to help bring Russian gas to Germany.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
