The US makes every effort to disrupt Nord Stream 2, setting obvious selfish goals. Recently, Washington has stepped up sanctions against Russia, citing political reasons.
Besides, the White House threatens to slap sanctions against European companies, involved in the Russia-led pipeline project. The US aims to impose American natural gas on the EU market. Even fierce advocates of Russia’s isolation recognize that Washington pursue pure commercial goals. “The US again confuses politics with economics. America’s ambition is to bar cheaper Russian gas to Europe and promote its condensed gas, which is much more expensive than pipeline gas, exerting political pressure. All warnings that the project poses a threat to security are nonsense as Russia has never halted its gas supplies to Europe,” first Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on energy Igor Ananskih commented on the situation. The EU is unwilling to put up with pressure from Washington and wants to assert economic interests of European companies, which could be targeted by the US sanctions because of their participation in Nord Stream 2. Interestingly, the White House does not disguise its intentions, but considers the situation from a different angle. In late May, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo acknowledged that his country’s goal is to wind down the project to prevent the EU energetic dependence on Russia.
Thus, the US has set a noble goal to help the EU to break up with the Russian gas suppliers. However, the other side of the coin is the US intention to conquer the European gas market.
