Andrey Kurtunov from the Russian International Affairs Council discusses Russia-Ukraine tensions and how concerned the Kremlin might be about possible Western sanctions, which have been threatened in case of an attack on Ukraine
Andrey Kurtunov from the Russian International Affairs Council discusses Russia-Ukraine tensions and how concerned the Kremlin might be about possible Western sanctions, which have ...
... have been sporadic. Markets were worried amid the emergence of a new decree and expectations for the implementation of Art. 307 of the CBW Act, but then lost interest in the sanctions topic.
Ivan Timofeev:
Platform Modernisation: What the US Treasury Sanctions Review Is All About
The situation with Nord Stream 2 has also stabilised. Throughout 2020, the US discussed tougher sanctions against Russian pipeline projects. However, the eventually adopted PEESCA law (an amendment to the 2019 PEESA law) did not radically change the situation. Moreover,...
We regard all attempts to impede Russian oil and gas exports to Europe as unfair competition
Ambassador Anatoly Antonov's answer to a media question.
Dear Ambassador, could you please comment on the State Department's plans to expand the sanctions in the context of the Nord Stream 2 project?
Anatoly Antonov: The U.S. administration, both Republicans and Democrats, has been trying to complicate the Russian-European energy cooperation for several years now. At first, Washington wanted to disrupt the completion of the ...
... to the JCPOA. The EU authorities were also unable to offer their businesses guarantees of reliable protection against punitive measures being taken by the US Treasury and other departments. The second event was Washington’s powerful attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Trump has openly opposed the pipeline, although the Obama administration was also against the pipeline. Congress has passed two sanctions laws targeting Russian pipeline projects. The US Congress and the State Department directly warned European business about the threat of sanctions for participating in the project. In addition to Iran and Russia, concern in the EU was also caused ...
... gas. Germany has been falling behind other European countries in environmental efforts and has
grown more dependent on coal power
to supplement energy demand when renewable sources fail to meet the needs of the German people.
Ivan Timofeev:
Biden's Sanctions Policy. The First Steps
It's important to consider is the continuation of oil trade between the Netherlands and Russia. If the West is so concerned about preserving its ideals, why hasn't this trade been pressured? Likely because Nord Stream 2 is a relatively recent development, but the arrangement between the Dutch and Russia has been around for some time. What is odd, however, are the numbers. Between the Netherlands and Russia, there is hardly a difference in the dollar value ...
... flying start.
It’s time to let go…because of an incoherent strategy, appearing in a historical context of failure, signals peril.
Round One: Shaky First Steps
Petr Korzun:
International Security Implications of the US-Russia Contention Over the Nord Stream 2
This new task of sanctioning the NS2 project appeared not as a unilateral and relatively clear-cut scenario as had been the case of sanctions vis-à-vis, for example, Iran, where its effects could do minimal damage to the robust transatlantic relationship with the EU. Overarchingly, the principal argument and qualms from the side of the U.S. was the claim of its detrimental impact ...
... anyone who sells, leases, or provides pipe-laying vessels used in the construction of a Russian-origin energy pipeline that makes landfall in Germany or Turkey. A month later, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced the bill that would impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 as an effort to “
protect European energy security and Ukraine’s stability
”.
Igor Yushkov:
The Fight for Nord Stream 2: The Interests of all the Players Involved
Finally, on December 20, 2019, the US President signed a sanctions package ...
... economically support such projects. This norm is a part of
CAATSA (sec.235)
— a Public Law on comprehensive restrictions against Moscow. Since 2014, the Administration has shown a tough stance whilst dealing with Russia and imposed a wide-range of sanctions as a response to the events in Ukraine, supposed election interference and other issues of the U.S.-Russia rivalry agenda. However, executive authorities have not yet implemented sec.235 against Russian pipeline projects, where Nord Stream 2 (NS2) is of paramount importance. One of the reasons could be a concern with the position of Berlin, which has repeatedly manifested its discontent with any U.S. interference in the NS2.
Ivan Timofeev:
Europe Under Fire from US Secondary ...
... pipelaying ships from the Swiss company Allseas, with the procedure itself to be carried out by three ships in 2018–2019.
It is still unclear whether or not Allseas will pull out of the contract in light of the U.S. ban. In any case, the American sanctions against Nord Stream 2 will be a blow not only to Russia, but (and perhaps more importantly) to Europe itself. After all, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the United States it attempting to block the flow of Russian gas in Ukraine, and then reduce it, ...
... Brussels were the ones who instigated the Ukrainian calamity by supporting a coup d'état in that country in February 2014. Since then, relations between Russia and the West have been plagued by mutual mistrust. Russia introduced agricultural countersanctions in the summer of 2014, leading to tens of billions of euros' worth of losses for European food producers.
Nord Stream 2 Prospects
Touching on the subject of Nord Stream 2, a planned gas pipeline project stretching from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, Chizhov explained that the initiative has good prospects, since it has a strong economic rationale as ...
