Scholz Caves on Nord Stream While Putin Throws Donbass a Lifeline

“In order to survive and preserve its leading role on the international stage, the US desperately needs to plunge Eurasia into chaos, (and) to cut economic ties between Europe and Asia-Pacific Region … Russia is the only (country) within this potential zone of instability that is capable of resistance. It is the only state that is ready to confront the Americans. Undermining Russia’s political will for resistance… is a vitally important task for America.” —Nikolai Starikov, Western Financial System Is Driving It to War, Russia Insider

On Tuesday, Germany announced that it would halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that connects Germany to Russia. The United States has opposed the project since its inception in 2015 and has initiated multiple rounds of economic sanctions to prevent its completion. Blocking the pipeline was the main objective of Washington’s extravagant 2 month-long media blitz which portrayed Vladimir Putin as reckless warmonger who posed a serious threat to European security. The US achieved its dubious goal on Monday when Putin announced that Russia would recognize the sovereign independence of two statelets in east Ukraine that are currently under siege by the Ukrainian army. Putin’s announcement provided the cover the German government needed to abandon the popular pipeline project and to demonstrate, once again, that Germany’s top politicians and senior-level officials still put Washington’s demands above the interests of the German people. Here’s the story from DW:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that Germany has taken steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. He told reporters in Berlin that his government was taking the measure in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

“That sounds technical, but it is the necessary administrative step so there can be no certification of the pipeline and without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot begin operating,” Scholz said. 

The White House has welcomed Scholz’s announcement and said it would be following up with measures of its own.” (“Ukraine crisis: Germany halts Nord Stream 2 approval”, DW)

It is worth noting, that Germany did not contact Russia prior to its announcement and made no effort to allow the case to be arbitrated in a (WTO) forum where Russia could defend itself against flagrantly discriminatory and capricious trade practices. As we’ve seen many times in the past, the principles of international trade– which supposedly create a “level playing field” for all competitors– are easily cast aside by the more powerful nations who whimsically dictate how the rules are applied. But if one country is able to torpedo a project as critically-important as Nord Stream by applying some thoroughly-arbitrary and subjective standard, then why maintain the pretense of a “rules-based” system at all?

Shouldn’t Russia be allowed to defend itself in an open tribunal where it can challenge the claims that are made against it or is it acceptable for a political leader to unilaterally scrap a $10 billion project based on his own subjective interpretation of events in far-flung Ukraine?

And if, in fact, Russia has done something so heinous that Germany is justified in blocking Nord Stream from coming on line, then why doesn’t the German government cancel Nord Stream 1 at the same time, after all, the gas comes from the same country and is owned by the same company. Why keep one pipeline open while shutting the other? It makes no sense. If the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is so committed to “principle”, then why not suspend all Russian gas deliveries immediately and let the German people freeze to death in the dark? Isn’t that what a “principled” leader would do?

Indeed, he would, but German chancellor Olaf Scholz is not acting on principle, he’s caving in to Washington’s arm-twisting and everyone knows it. At the same time, he is imposing a large and onerous tax on the German people by denying them a source of cheap heating fuel. The only explanation for Scholz’s behavior is that his real loyalty is to the globalist cabal that runs the White House and not to the people who put him in office. He has shown that he would rather be Biden’s lapdog than the proud leader of a great nation. The German people deserve better than the likes of Olaf Scholz.

Did Putin know that Nord Stream would be halted if he declared the independence of the two statelets in east Ukraine?

Yes, he did. But unlike his counterparts in the West, Putin put the safety of the Ukrainian Russians above his prospects for bigger revenues. The Russian president was not going to allow the 60,000 Ukrainian combat troops–that have gathered along the Line of Contact–to invade the Donbass killing and maiming the ethnic Russians who occupy the area. Instead, he made the more courageous choice by recognizing the independence of the two new republics and by deploying a peacekeeping mission to those areas. Now any Ukrainian attack on the Donbass will be met by the full force of the Russian army. And this challenge does not apply to Ukraine alone. By establishing two new states at the periphery of Europe, Putin is openly challenging NATO and the US to restore the nation’s borders. But will they? Does Biden really want a confrontation with Russia or has all his saber-rattling and tough talk just been more posturing for the cameras?

We’ll see, but Russia will be ready one way or another, after all, Putin just tore up the UN Charter and carved two new statelets out of the broken shell of Washington’s bankrupt euro-colony. That is not something that Uncle Sam can simply ignore. By unilaterally redrawing the borders of a sovereign country, Putin has effectively blown up the system of global security that the US has overseen for the last 75 years. Washington will have to respond to that, and the response will not be limited to sanctions alone. Red lines have been crossed and Russia is presenting a direct challenge to the existing system itself. That’s means the reaction is likely to be violent.

This is why Putin said that he should have recognized the independence of the statelets long ago. What he meant was that Washington never had any intention of seeking a resolution to the conflict, in fact, it was explicitly NOT in Washington’s interests to do so. Putin should have seen “the writing on the wall” earlier and acted accordingly. But that meant standing up to the United States which he was reluctant to do. Until this week.

So, what changed? Let’s let Putin speak for himself:

“We are seeing how persistently the Kiev regime is being pumped with arms. Since 2014, the United States alone has spent billions of dollars for this purpose, including supplies of arms and equipment and training of specialists. In the last few months, there has been a constant flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, ostentatiously, with the entire world watching. Foreign advisors supervise the activities of Ukraine’s armed forces and special services and we are well aware of this.

Over the past few years, military contingents of NATO countries have been almost constantly present on Ukrainian territory under the pretext of exercises. The Ukrainian troop control system has already been integrated into NATO. This means that NATO headquarters can issue direct commands to the Ukrainian armed forces, even to their separate units and squads.

The United States and NATO have started an impudent development of Ukrainian territory as a theatre of potential military operations. Their regular joint exercises are obviously anti-Russian. Last year alone, over 23,000 troops and more than a thousand units of hardware were involved.

A law has already been adopted that allows foreign troops to come to Ukraine in 2022 to take part in multinational drills. Understandably, these are primarily NATO troops. This year, at least ten of these joint drills are planned. Obviously, such undertakings are designed to be a cover-up for a rapid buildup of the NATO military group on Ukrainian territory.

This is all the more so since the network of airfields upgraded with US help … is capable of transferring army units in a very short time. Ukraine’s airspace is open to flights by US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft and drones that conduct surveillance over Russian territory. I will add that the US-built Maritime Operations Centre in Ochakov makes it possible to support activity by NATO warships, including the use of precision weapons, against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and our infrastructure on the entire Black Sea Coast.” (“Adress of the President of the Russian Federation”,Kremlin, RU)

What is Putin saying?

He’s saying that Ukraine is already a NATO country in everything but name-only. He’s saying that Washington and its allies have covertly placed a hostile army, military bases and advanced weaponry right on Russia’s doorstep. He is drawing attention to the identifiable threat that NATO poses to Russia and to all of Central Asia. He is trying to calmly and rationally explain the national security crisis that Russia now faces on its western flank. He has a point, doesn’t he? Here’s more:

Putin: NATO’s military infrastructure is “a knife to our throat.” 

offensive strike systems.