The United States has been out-manuevered in the Caspian Sea petroleum war. With the recent consessions by Turkey on the Black Sea Treaty to permit a Southern Pipeline, Russia is poised to build it. It has financing and futures-contracts for delivery.
On the other hand, its competitor, the EU and US’s so-called NABUCCO pipeline (Turkey to Austria) has no funding. It was supposed to be built to lessen Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas. However, it will not be built. The EU is broke. America is broke. There is no will to build it.
Therefore, NATO, the EU, and the US are doing everything they can to pry-away any pro-Russian terrain in Southeastern Europe. (The harassing of villagers by NATO, the world’s biggest military alliance, is so out of proportion and seems so trite.) Serbia and Kosovo are two places that have been targeted for years (decades).
30% of Western Europe’s gas is now supplied by Russia in the newly completed Northern Pipeline (under the Baltic Sea). Should Russia complete the Southern Pipeline, it is possible that Western Europe will be more than 50% dependant upon Russia for natural gas. Under that scenario, Russia will increasingly call the shots in Europe, not the US.
Kosovo is a last-ditch effort by the Western petroleum interests to keep Russia gas out of Europe. It won’t work. The free market is too strong and they need the supplies.
Yes, and have you seen this:
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced a deal with Belarus to sell it gas at 60% below the price charged to other European countries.
In return, the Russian state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom will increase its ownership of the Belarus gas pipeline firm Beltranshaz from 50% to 100%.