Maybe he's allergic to moss cows...
Posted on 12/01/2014 7:35:35 PM PST by Theoria
President Vladimir V. Putin said Monday that he would scrap Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline, a grandiose project that was once intended to establish the country’s dominance in southeastern Europe but instead fell victim to Russia’s increasingly toxic relationship with the West.
It was a rare diplomatic defeat for Mr. Putin, who said Russia would redirect the pipeline to Turkey. He painted the failure to build the pipeline as a loss for Europe and blamed Brussels for its intransigence.
The decision also seemed to be a rare victory for the European Union and the Obama administration, which have appeared largely impotent this year as Mr. Putin annexed Crimea and stirred rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
Russia had long presented the $22 billion South Stream project as a sound business move. But Washington and Brussels had dismissed it as a thinly veiled attempt by the Kremlin to cement its position as the dominant supplier in Europe while sidestepping Ukraine, where price disputes with Moscow twice interrupted supplies in recent years.
The conflict in Ukraine increased pressure from Europe against the pipeline, and construction was halted by Bulgaria in June. As diplomatic and economic pressures increased, Mr. Putin personally decided to cancel the project, Russia’s energy minister, Alexander Novak, said.
If there was one winner it was Turkey, which, along with China and other energy-hungry developing nations, has been exploiting the East-West rift to gain long-term energy supplies at bargain prices. Mr. Putin noted that on Monday during a news conference in Ankara with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying Turkey would receive a discount on gas and an additional three billion cubic meters of gas annually.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bump
A few weeks ago his currency was at an all time low.
Now the Southern Pipeline that could have been a great source of income, is a bust.
He’s seen as a pariah in the West.
Oil prices which his nation relied heavily on, have tanked.
And this is described as a rare diplomatic defeat.
LOL, I’d hate to see what passes for a non rare problem for him.
COMPLETELY different angle by the NYTimes, than in the NDTV Japan story:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/vladimir-putin-scraps-south-stream-gas-pipeline-on-turkey-visit-628534
He is all but coming out and directly warning Europe that it could get really cold this winter:
“If Europe does not want the pipeline to be realised then that means that it will not be realised,” said Putin, adding that Russia could look to deliver gas to other markets including LNG (liquefied natural gas) deliveries to Asia.
He warned that Russia could now lower gas volumes delivered to Europe.
“We will orientate our energy resources to other regions of the world,” he said. “And Europe will not receive those volumes (that it had) from Russia.”
“But that is the choice of our European friends,” he added acidly.”
A deal with Turkey would still cut off the Saudi pipeline to Europe, which is what controlling Syria is about.
Falling oil prices could bankrupt Russia.
OIl prices have tanked, which is bad for the Russian economy. But who is this a defeat for? Russia is going to sell its gas; they simply cut their antagonists out of the picture. Meanwhile, in their war over Syria, they just cut off their enemy’s objective: Saudi Arabia just lost its reason to overthrow Bashir. The big loser is Western Europe.
Maybe he's allergic to moss cows...
What’s more: the North Stream directly into Germany is in place, and the route through Turkey can still be connected to SE Europe via Greece. Looks like Putin outsmarted the U.S.
A big gas hub in Southwest Turkey would short-circuit the Saudi pipeline, and it seems to be already in the works.
Putin Kills “South Stream” Pipeline, Will Build New Massive Pipeline To Turkey Instead
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-01/putin-kills-south-stream-pipeline-will-build-new-massive-pipeline-turkey-instead
Sounds like a major expansion of the “Blue Stream” pipeline is coming, and also THIS:
TURKEY, RUSSIA AGREE TO USE LOCAL CURRENCIES IN TRADE: TRT
So much for that “Isolating Russia” thingy...
~It was a rare diplomatic defeat for Mr. Putin, who said Russia would redirect the pipeline to Turkey. He painted the failure to build the pipeline as a loss for Europe and blamed Brussels for its intransigence.~
Why is it not a loss for Europe? A lot was said about “energy blackmail” by Russia but it is yet to translate to reality.
All the problems with European supply in mid2000s was actually attributed to Ukraine, which routinely failed to pay its gas bills and siphoned supply intended to West European consumers.
Russia got all the bad press over it because it was useless to put blame on Ukraine - it simply couldn’t solve a thing though Russia might have been bullied into pumping more gas to compensate theft.
Nord Stream down the Baltic Sea was a way to secure German market from Ukrainian factor.
South Stream was a possibility for Austria and South Europe to secure theirs.
It is noble that EU have chosen to stand with Ukraine but it would stay noble only if they would stay by Ukraine then it would be a problem for their transit once again and of course they should pay the price.
Putin and Russia are going to need GasX
Yes, the drive to get Assad out is about the Saudi-to-Europe gas line. I don’t see how ousting Assad will assure a gas pipeline.
About half of Russia’s economy depends on oil profits.
As long as the Russian-supported Assad controls Syria, the Saudi’s can’t build the gas pipeline to Europe, competing with Russian gas.
Northern Iraq through Turkey is too close to Iranian influence. Israel... well, we all know that isn’t going to happen. Syria is the only viable routing.
Putin suffers a defeat. The source for this is The Old Gray Streetwalker Of Journalism.
Therefore we may conclude that Putin won one.
~Yes, the drive to get Assad out is about the Saudi-to-Europe gas line. I don’t see how ousting Assad will assure a gas pipeline.~
Bingo. Saudis are facing worsen sales in face of US fracking boom and they initially opted to compensate aiming to European market.
Syria is an obvious obstacle as a Russian client because Russia is not interested in Gulf Arabs on its market.
Syria gets a bunch of terrorists to destabilize it and Russia intervenes not to let Obama to Saudi bidding supporting terrorist attack on Syria.
Saudis are upset at both Russia and US and starting an energy price war against both. There are numerous objectives for Saudis. Both Russian arctic production and US fracking are costly so they are hurting both driving them into insolvency. Secondary objective it to punish both Russia and US political classes - first for standing with Assad’s regime and second for failure to counter Russian Middle East policy.
Ukrainian crisis was mostly an Obama’s way to say “I’m sorry” to the Saudis and a shot in the back for Russia.
The main idea is to obstruct Russian gas transit to Europe this winter which would be perpetrated by Ukrainian companies and blamed on Russia by the media to paint it as an unreliable supplier.
An idea is to make Europe eager to join against Assad and support Saudi plan.
Then we should be putting sanctions on Russia that mirror those we have on North Korea. Including a travel ban and pulling our embassy out of Russia.
OMG! This is a joke!
Turkey has been the conduit for natural gas from Azerbaijan. Russia’s deal gives her access to that same pipeline. Who’s advising Obama? Zhirinovski?
The good news, I suppose, is that Turkey is vested in Russia, rather than the Saudis.
~Then we should be putting sanctions on Russia that mirror those we have on North Korea. Including a travel ban and pulling our embassy out of Russia.~
LOL. Russia was living under an Iron Curtain for some 70 years. it could have lasted longer if not for the contact with outside world to compare condition and understand that socialism was a failure.
If not for this contacts, Evil Empire could have been alive though probably not so well, but who cares after all?
Russia has been engaging in energy blackmail for decades. It might be news to you. lol
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