German companies that are participating in the Nord Stream 2 project may be subject to US sanctions. This was stated by Richard Grenell in an interview with the German edition of Focus. “From the American point of view, this gas pipeline not only transports gas, but also has a high sanction risk,” the diplomat believes.

Recall that in the construction project of the main gas pipeline five European companies are participating: German Wintershall DEA and Uniper, Austrian OMV, British Shell and French Engie. Commissioning of the Nord Stream - 2 is scheduled for the end of 2019.

It is not the first time that Grenell has threatened Europe with sanctions for participating in an international gas project. In January, the US ambassador sent letters to a number of German companies, in which he offered to take into account possible “reputational costs and risk of sanctions” from the US for participating in the construction of the gas pipeline.

A month later, he called on the German government to reconsider its attitude towards cooperation with Russia in the economic sphere. “If Germany is really concerned about Russian nuclear weapons, shouldn’t it then give up giving Moscow more influence by buying Russian gas?” Grenell said in an interview with Die Welt.

In April, he somewhat softened his rhetoric. Germany has the potential to “become a favorite country” of Donald Trump, since the Germans “speak the same language” with the American president, the US ambassador said in an interview with Bild. “The language Trump speaks is jobs and the economy,” Grenell stressed.

  • US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Daniel Bockwoldt


Energy independence and economic benefits

The pipeline, which will directly link Russia and Germany, runs counter to the long-term interests of the United States and the policies of Donald Trump, experts say. “This project increases Europe’s energy independence from the United States,” said Timofey Bordachev, director of the Center for Comprehensive European Studies at HSE, in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, Trump plans to increase exports to Europe of American liquefied natural gas, therefore, he views Russia as a dangerous competitor who needs to be squeezed out of the market, the expert reminds.

In addition, the launch of the Nord Stream - 2 will reduce the volume of gas transit through Ukrainian territory to European countries, which, of course, will lead to a reduction in Ukraine’s revenues.

“Speaking against the pipeline that will directly link Russia and Germany, the United States wants to support its Ukrainian ally. In addition, the Americans have a strategic goal - to reduce the income of Moscow from the export of oil and gas. They believe that in this way it is possible to destabilize the situation in Russia, ”Leonid Vardomsky, head of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at the Institute of Economics, said in an interview with RT.

On the contrary, the Nord Stream 2 is advantageous for the European Union, as it guarantees the stability of energy supplies and low, especially in comparison with supplies from the United States, the price of gas, the expert notes.

“This is extremely important for Germany, which is the largest energy consumer in the European Union. Here is the case when the economic interests of the United States and the EU collide directly, ”states Vardomsky.

For this reason, the US’s position on the Nord Stream - 2, despite Washington’s best efforts, is not supported by the leading EU states, the expert notes. In Germany, for example, the main parties of the country, sometimes very critically assessing Russian foreign policy, are in favor of building a gas pipeline from Russia.

“The CDU has always stated that it supports this project, regardless of whether it is relevant or not,” Anfret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of the Christian Democratic Union, which is a member of the ruling coalition, quotes Interfax.

The German government also supports the construction of a gas pipeline and negatively evaluates Grenell’s statements about the project.

“The European Union’s energy policy issues should be decided in Europe, not in the US,” reports Tassa of the words of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas about letters to German companies that were sent by the American ambassador.

In turn, German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers Grenella's arguments groundless.

“Will we depend on Russia in the light of the construction of the second gas pipeline?” I think not, if we simultaneously diversify gas supplies, ”Merkel said at a press conference in February 2019.

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel
  • Reuters
  • © Fabrizio Bensch


Trump Doctrine in Europe does not work

To combat the "Nord Stream - 2" in the United States has long established a legislative framework. Back in 2017, the US Congress passed the CAATSA law (“On Counteracting US Opponents through Sanctions”), which allows Washington to “punish” investors for building a gas pipeline from Russia.

However, the sanctions against them have not yet been imposed, because they still cannot prevent Nord Stream 2, said Stanislav Mitrahovich, leading expert of the National Energy Security Foundation and the Financial University. In case of applying sanctions pressure on European companies, Moscow is ready to assume all the costs of the project implementation, the expert recalled. Therefore, even if the USA applies the CAATSA law, they will not achieve the desired result early, but they will suffer serious reputational losses.

“Everyone will see that the Americans applied sanctions, but they did not work,” Mitrahovich explained in an interview with RT.

And yet, according to analysts, the United States has opportunities to influence individual European participants in Nord Stream 2. Approximately 700 contractors from various EU countries, including Germany, are involved in the project. Americans can impose certain restrictions on them, Vardomsky notes.

“They can be cut off from financing, fined for any violations, not allowed to work in the USA, which is very painful, since the American market is large and a significant part of exports from Germany goes there. The United States has technical capabilities to influence project participants, but the question is whether they will use them in Washington. They cannot but understand that if the United States will put serious pressure on German business, Germany, and with it the entire European Union will not be silent, ”said the expert.

According to him, it is unlikely that the Americans will go into a serious conflict with the EU because of the "Nord Stream - 2".

“The trade war can cause too serious damage not only to the economies of the European Union countries, but also to the United States itself. “Nord Stream 2” is not the prize for which Washington and Berlin will risk it, ”said Vardomsky.

Experts believe that the United States is trying, with the help of psychological pressure, to tighten or collapse a gas pipeline project.

“The US ambassador to Germany is a man known for his harsh and rather radical statements. Grenell plays the role of the “evil cop” in Trump’s negotiation process with Europe. Warnings about sanctions can last a long time, but really it will not come to them, ”says Timofey Bordachev.

The expert recalled that in an interview with Die Welt, Grenell spoke about the “Trump Doctrine”, which is now continuing to take shape and develop, and which the US adheres to in its relations with hostile states. According to Grenella, the essence of the doctrine is in a bilateral approach to the problem. First, Washington uses soft pressure levers. If the situation does not change in the direction desirable for him, the pressure increases.

“We are introducing the toughest possible sanctions, while at the same time proposing negotiations to see whether the position of certain states will change,” the US ambassador told reporters.

“We can say that with respect to Germany, Trump acts in the same way, only instead of real levers of pressure there are threats of using these levers, and no more,” Bordachev said.