(Photo : GEERT VANDEN WIJNGAAERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
European Parliament President David Sassoli, Slovenias Prime Minister Janez Jansa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pose during a signing ceremony of EU Legislative Priorities for 2022 on the sidelines of an EU Summit in Brussels on December 16, 2021
Brussels told Putin that any move to conquer Ukraine would cost him the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as its main trump card.
Observers say that the pipeline is essential to Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep a hold on the European Union gas supply. The Kremlin has been accused of weaponizing gas supplies to leverage against the EU bloc, which has sown disunity among its members.
EU desperately tries to contain Moscow
After the summit in Brussels last Thursday, the leaders were scrambling for an effective deterrent to stop an alleged invasion of Ukraine, as Kremlin positions about 175,000 troops already at the South border of Russia and Ukraine, reported the Express UK.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as the last card of the bloc, runs from Germany to Russian but has to pass Ukraine and Poland. The two countries, one a Bloc member the other applying to join. Prominent EU members have talked about intimidation by Moscow added that economic sanctions are included.
According to Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, the EU could sanction Moscow economically and challenge Putin with the fate of the pipeline, noted FA News.
He insisted the EU have co-authority with Berlin to decide what happens to the pipeline. Poland and countries close to Russia are jumpy because the EU no longer fazes the Kremlin, and the bloc is threatened by the activities in the Ukraine and Belarus borders.
At the summit, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that Moscow would pay a dear price if they rolled out forces against Kiev. Brussels is counting on sanctions to slow down Putin with the Nord Stream 2.
Desperate bloc lacks energy independence
Requests by Mr. Putin to okay the new pipeline to supply more natural gas have been accused of controlling the gas tap to the point, gas suppliers have bellied up, and Europe is getting starved of energy supplies, cited Jaun News.
Choking the bloc's gas supply had increased prices for the precious energy, the Russian leader has a self-inflicted stranglehold using green energy.
The Polish PM remarked that the pipeline is blackmail against the bloc by starving gas supplies. Opening the Nord Stream 2 will lead to a steadier supply.
German regulators have shut it down, and Chancellor Olaf Sholz was asked to stop the project should Russian forces cross the border. He spoke to the press in Brussels, stating that borders were inviolate to a peaceful Europe. He added that everything would be done to keep them intact.
EU leaders squeezed German energy regulators to decide in their favor, as the Kremlin's influence on gas supplies is power. Putin's prized pipeline was not certified via the bloc's pressure.
EU members call this the initial moves to curtail the gas line as the 27 leaders voted for in the summit. The efforts of the European Union closed the gas line, and Washington only came later after the meeting between the US and Russian heads of state. The US rode on the efforts to shut down the pipeline.
Brussels plays the Nord Stream 2 card to stall Vladimir Putin, but the Kremlin still makes the EU jumpy. Even Joe Biden capitulated and kept the bloc out of the loop again.
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