US Ambassador Richard Grenell threatens German firms over Russian pipeline

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/us-ambassador-richard-grenell-threatens-german-firms-over-russian-pipeline/a-47062540

US Ambassador Richard Grenell threatens German firms over Russian pipeline

Date 13.01.2019
Author Darko Janjevic

German companies building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Germany and Russia received letters from US Ambassador Richard Grenell warning them of "a significant risk of sanctions" if they did not pull out of the project, Germany's mass-circulation Bild am Sonntag has reported. The large pipeline is set to deliver gas from northwestern Russia to northern Germany under the Baltic Sea and effectively double the amount of gas Germany imports from the country.

The US opposes the project over fears that the gas link would tighten Russia's control of Europe's energy supply and diminish the importance of gas transit countries such as Ukraine. US companies are also keen to sell gas obtained by fracking to many European countries.

In the letter cited by Bild am Sonntag, Grenell wrote that the pipeline would make Europe dependent on Moscow and increase the threat of Russian interventions. "We emphasize that companies involved in Russian energy exports are taking part in something that could prompt a significant risk of sanctions," the ambassador wrote.

The paper also quoted a Grenell spokesman who said that the letter should not be seen as a threat, but as a "clear message of US policy."

[SleeplessinSoCal]

1. mystifyingly st odds with POTUS/PUTIN

We do get it the weeds more and more.

[Kurt V.]

2. U.S. oil and gas lobbies speak

[DFW]

3. The U.S. ambassador telling German companies whom they may deal with

That will go over in Germany about as well as the German ambassador in Washington telling American companies whom they may do business with, and with whom they may not.

This one may try even the normally limitless patience of Angela Merkel. I would have kicked the guy out months ago.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Hope Grenell increases their resolve to start backing away from Trump.

Grenell, following Bolton, probably carrying Bolton's coffee for him. Looks as if he's trying to look
like James Dean or Clint Eastwood, but instead, he looks sloppy, wearing his PJs topd. almost
approaching the style of the Walking Dead extras.

[Iterate]

5. Germany has imported Russian natgas since the early 1950s.

That's right, even during the worst of the cold war Germany was importing Russian oil/gas. And I should add, exporting manufactured goods to them.

Also it's not simply a matter of crass expediency, it goes to the heart of German trade policy by intentionally building interdependence and cultural interaction through mutually beneficial trade -which is also foundational to the EU, but in a single, open, common social market.

The idea that this undermines Ukraine is also backwards. Without a single large route through Ukraine, Putin looses leverage and a shutdown would be pointless as the supply would simply be re-routed, even back into Ukraine. With many sources, many routes, the EU is more stable - another Germany policy goal. Obviously, that' not a shared interest.

I hope I live long enough to see Grenell lifted by his tighty-whites and set on a plane, never to return. Maybe they'll even let him ride on the inside.