Those warnings were prescient, as Germany is clearly drifting away from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and moving increasingly into Russia’s political orbit. One reason the Trump administration opposed Nord Stream 2 is that it gives Russia enough economic leverage over Europe, and especially Germany, to realign the politics of the entire continent. Transit fees for those shipments represent about $2 billion in annual revenue for Ukraine. The pipeline will double the amount of gas Russia’s state energy company Gazprom can ship to Europe – and it bypasses current shipping routes that run through Ukraine. The pipeline is scheduled to become operational sometime in the second half of 2022. Zelensky said in a June interview that he was “unpleasantly surprised” by Biden’s unwillingness to continue the Trump administration’s opposition to Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion pipeline project running across the Baltic Sea from Siberia to Germany. Last summer, Zelensky warned Biden the risk of invasion would soar if sanctions were lifted on Vladimir Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but that warning was ignored.
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