Summary

The US and Germany have reached a deal ending a longstanding dispute over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline – a natural gas pipeline that bypasses conventional Central European routes by traversing the Baltic Sea, providing a direct link between Germany and Russian energy supply. The deal should come as no surprise given Berlin’s longstanding commitment to the $11 billion project and the sunk costs involved (the pipeline was almost complete by the time President Biden took office). But this is cold comfort for Kyiv, which will inevitably view the US-Germany deal as Ukraine being sacrificed on the altar of great power politics.