It’s pure fantasy, but what if our POTUS said,
“Vlad, tomorrow I’m going to sign all those fracking permits on my desk & any that follow, I’m going to finally authorize the Keystone pipeline, I’m going to make the U.S. into the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, and as a result I’m going to totally trash the price of what you get for your Gazprom exports & earn the gratitude of the rest of Europe.
“THAT”S what I’m going to do about it, Vlad!”
How long it will take?
How many years for being operational?
What’s the liquified gas price including the transportation cost 6,000 miles away?
How do you reach the central European countries?
It’s MY pure fantasy, I imagined this conversation:
(Phone rings)
Putin: Putin speaking, who’s there?
Obama: “It’s me again, President Putin. I demand you remove your troops from Crimea.”
Putin: “President Obama, I demand you remove your military base from Guantanamo in Cuba.”
Obama: “What happens in the Western Hemisphere stays in the Western Hemisphere. It’s none of your business.”
Putin: “What happens in the Eastern Hemisphere stays in the Eastern Hemisphere. It’s none of your business.”
Obama: “But France and Germany say ...”
Putin: “France, Germany, pfft. With Germany we’d been there, done that, remember 1941-45? Is momma Merkel sure to go there again?”
Obama: “Well, I draw the red line, too bad you ignore it.”
Putin: “Oh, no, red lines and more red lines, what are you, a communist? Ha!” (Click.)