Russia wanted to reduce German steel output. As a way to convince Germany to lean away from supplying Ukraine, and appreciate the importance of:
- Russia as a trading partner
- fossil fuel exports from Russia
the undersea pipelines were cut.
Nobody yet knows who, exactly, blew up Russia's gas pipelines to Germany, or who authorized it, or paid for it or might have known and did nothing to stop it.
The most obvious finger points at Pres. Biden who had announced long in advance that war would end those pipelines.
Then there was a random Ukrainian who claimed to have done the deed without telling his government about it.
And the most unlikely perp is still Vlad the Invader, though at this point it's hard to put anything beyond him.
Europeans have replaced Russian gas & oil with other suppliers, albeit at higher prices, notably North American LNG shipments.
I've seen some pretty dire predictions about Germany's economic future, though all so far still a bit premature.
Now Germany is getting broke which makes it more and more weak. A position which Germans, are very not-used to feeling: They are after all good at what do. :)Now the US who Promised to make up for the Nat. Gas that was cut off when the pipeline, have cut off supplies.I expect the Germans are not happy campers at this point, but it mean they not long have the spare capacity to make weapons on a mass scale. This will be fun.