The agreement between the USA and Germany on the Russia-Germany gas pipeline “Nord Stream 2” is considered a mistake, but the West still has the leverage to allow Ukraine to benefit from this project, which is nearing completion, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabriel Landsbergis believes.
According to him, as a condition for the start of operation of the gas pipeline could be a requirement to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine or a decision to give Ukraine a clear prospect of NATO membership.
“I believe that this is a mistake that will cost dearly,” Landsbergis told reporters in Vilnius on Thursday, July 22. “I see an opportunity to correct this mistake (..) if Ukraine were offered an action plan for NATO membership or if the opening of the gas pipeline were used as a lever to demand that Russia withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory.”
According to the minister, the new gas pipeline for Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “huge victory” for which he would have to pay a “really high price”.
“It’s a serious lever, and it’s possible to use it with at least minimal benefit. If this is not done, it will be a loss (..) primarily for those countries that have agreed on ‘Nord Stream 2’, “he added.
The US and Germany have agreed to settle the dispute over Nord Stream 2, stipulating that Washington will refrain from imposing sanctions on project participants, but the possibility of European Union (EU) sanctions will be maintained if Russia uses the gas pipeline as an instrument of energy pressure.
Nord Stream 2 would double Russia’s gas exports to Germany, allowing Moscow to exclude Ukraine as a Russian gas transit country receiving billions of euros.
However, Germany has indicated that it will use all its levers to persuade Russia to extend the agreement on gas transit through Ukraine for a period of up to ten years, which will expire at the end of 2024.
According to Landsberg, this shows that Germany is taking responsibility in this process, but for Russia, this agreement may not mean anything.-
“We know how many agreements Russia is not fulfilling right now. Let’s say that at one time the oil pipeline “Druzhba” to Lithuania simply “broke down” – and everything. In the same way, a gas pipeline to Ukraine may be “damaged”. It is quite real – such gas pipelines are very “damaged”, “the Minister said, recalling the events of 2006, when Russia cut off the supply of crude oil to Lithuania under the pretext of bursting the pipeline.
He also noted that Western action on the Nord Stream 2 project was undermining Ukraine’s confidence in strategic partners, and recalled that Ukraine hoped to integrate into Western structures, including the NATO Membership Action Plan promised to it 13 years ago at the Bucharest Summit.
Instead of the Participation Action Plan, they receive Nord Stream 2. I would say that this is not a good deal, ”Landsbergis admitted.
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