Thread by @fuecks

#NordStream2: What the German government will sell as a diplomatic success is a compromise at the expense of Ukraine & the climate. It starts with the fact that negotiations were conducted over the heads of Ukraine, against whom the project is aimed. /1
wsj.com/articles/u-s-g…

Ukraine, Poland and other European critics of #NordStream2 are left to accept a fait accompli. The #Ukraine will be resigned to non-binding declarations of intent and financial consolations. /2

#NordStream2 was a geopolitical project from the start. It gives the Kremlin a free hand to increase political and military pressure on #Ukraine without jeopardizing the gas deal with the EU. The deal with Washington leaves this flank completely open. /3

Even worse: "German officials said they rejected a U.S. demand to include a so-called kill-switch clause in the pipeline's operating rules. This would have enabled Berlin to suspend gas flows if Russia were to make aggressive moves toward its neighbors or Western allies."/4

The German government negotiated the only provision out of the #NordStream2 "compromise" that was supposed to create a junket between the pipeline's operation and #Ukraine's security. This screams to the heavens. /5

If this pseudo-compromise goes through, it will be a triumph for Putin: despite continued intervention in eastern Ukraine, despite all the threatening policies, despite cronyism with Lukashenka and massive repression at home, the Germans are going through with #NordStream2. /6

Strategically, #Biden got nothing for this concession: neither a more decisive German stance on #China nor a clear commitment to increase the German contribution within NATO. This German government no longer has a political mandate for that either. /7

Finally, it is also very irritating that Angela #Merkel is throwing everything she has into the scales to get this ill-fated project wrapped up in the last meters of her term - without any reciprocation from the Kremlin. This is not a good legacy. /8

https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk/status/1417940623932461064

Breaking: Ukraine and Poland will work together with their partners to oppose NS2 until solutions are developed to address the security crisis created by NS2, to provide support to countries aspiring to membership in Western democratic institutions.
mfa.gov.ua/en/news/spilna…

https://twitter.com/LinkeviciusL/status/1417893525069381637?s=20

This hurts #NordStream2 #Merkel #Biden #Putin

https://twitter.com/rusembusa/status/1417953218034872327