Biden's Nord Stream 2 decision opened door to Ukraine invasion

 Daily Caller:

President Joe Biden’s lax policy on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, choosing to remove barriers to its construction, has opened the door to a Russian invasion of Ukraine, an expert told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Opponents of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was recently completed, argue it would make Russia less reliant on the Ukrainian gas pipeline network, potentially stripping a key deterrent to invasion, according to The Wilson Center. Nord Stream 2 would remove both a key revenue source from Ukraine and a powerful tool the nation has in defending itself against Russian aggression.

In May, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would waive sanctions placed on the pipeline by former President Donald Trump. Biden gave a final stamp of approval to the $11 billion project, which is operated by the Russian state-run firm Gazprom, on July 21 after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Biden made a preemptive concession at the beginning of his administration without going to the table and talking with Putin,” former Under Secretary of Defense Robert Wilkie, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Wilkie added that once the natural gas begins to flow from Russia to Europe via Nord Stream, the European nations relying on it for their energy needs will be less inclined to protect Ukraine from potential Russian aggression. (RELATED: Dozens Of Republicans Slam Biden Administration For Considering Crude Oil Export Ban)

“Once the natural gas starts to flow, you have just tethered Western European comfort and prosperity to Moscow,” said Wilkie, who also led the Department of Veterans Affairs from July 2018 until January.

“The Ukrainians have figured correctly that the Europeans are going to be neutered, they’re not going to want to turn off that flow for economic reasons,” he continued. “And that leaves the United States, and perhaps the Eastern European friends of America, particularly Poland, as their only buttress against Russian adventurism.”

...

Biden tends to make rash decisions without considering all the consequences.  This decision became a strategic failure empowering Russia's aggression.  It is up there with his Afghan debacle in empowering US enemies.  While Trump oppose the Nord Steam project he was also pushing a strategic partnership with US gas producers.  Now Biden wants to kill US gas exports.  It is hard to imagine a sane person behind Biden's policy decisions.

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