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 ...
~The end of this pipeline is a win for the USA, precisely because it is a defeat for Russia. ~
Ah...Good ole’ ‘zero sum’ game...:)
~Russia loses the South Stream~
Russia has at least two major pipelines apart from South Stream. One ‘risky’ through unstable Ukraine. And the second Nord Stream directly to Germany which is not affected by Ukrainian risks.
I understand why Germany don’t want reliable analogue of Nord Stream for South Europe and I can say that a level of German control on decision-making in these countries is really impressive.
—~”The end of this pipeline is a win for the USA, precisely because it is a defeat for Russia.”
—”Ah...Good ole’ ‘zero sum’ game...:)”
And a big loser for Southern Europe, especially Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest country.
Cheap energy denied to them for at least two more years.
~And a big loser for Southern Europe, especially Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest country.
Cheap energy denied to them for at least two more years.~
I wonder what tricks Obama and Merkel are using to make these poor excuses of nation-states to ignore their own interests to such a degree.
“I wonder what tricks Obama and Merkel are using to make these poor excuses of nation-states to ignore their own interests to such a degree.”
The sudden calling of the bonds of several different banks, resulting in a low liquidity, timed with a highly advertised bank run.
All solved by an EU “loan” if Bulgaria just stopped cooperating on the South Stream.
This was well covered this summer.
LOL!
:^)
How exactly would a Russia-Turkish deal “cut off” a possible Saudi-Turkish deal? Why would the Turks not want to be a hub for both Russian and Saudi gas?
In another analysis on the subject, it was pointed out that Turkey doesn’t negotiate to be a transporter for the Russian gas, where Russia pays Turkey for transit but the gas continued to be Russian and Russia could sell to Europeans at whatever price. Turkey wants to buy gas at their eastern border and then resell it to the Europeans themselves. It would be difficult for Russia to get the same price from Turkey as they would get from the Europeans, unless Turks know nothing about margins.
Again, final details of the deal haven’t been released yet. But if Turkey had been an attractive option, Russians would’ve done it long ago.
Of course Russia would rather sell gas directly to Europe than through a Turk middleman, that’s why the Russians wanted the South Stream in the first place! Now the Russians will have to be dependent on NATO member Turkey who will control Russia’s gas transit into Southern Europe. What a win for the master chess champion Putin! He has really outsmarted the USA, the EU and NATO this time! snicker!
You're way out of line, I just hope you don't say these things in public. Everybody (in Russia) knows it was a coup by a fascist junta
~Everybody (in Russia) knows it was a coup by a fascist junta~
The whole lot of freaks are running around any uprising. Including that.
~You’re way out of line, I just hope you don’t say these things in public. ~
Is it bad? What ‘s your point?
I was being sarcastic (or ironic, I sometimes confuse the two)
Your statement that it was an uprising against a currupt leader is overlooked in the official Kremlin story. Because you’re not following the party line of “Kiev junta, nazi, nazi” it puts you at odds with the Kremlin story. And in Russia, those that are in odds are the first to go, thus my well
(Continued) ...my well-meaning warning.
Don’t boil your pot in a cool-aid. Not only it hurts both substances, it also still affects your judgement.
Governments that jail people for their opinions can happen anywhere. In Russia, the likelihood of getting such government is higher, so what I’m saying is not that cooky. You might not get second Stalin with Putin, but when 72 year old women (Bogatinkova) who report on Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine get arrested for fraud, while others get their heads bashed in (Shlosberg), things are not good. They might not get better when Russia becomes more isolated.
You have good sense not to use your real name as the screen name on FR, that’s good. It’s not too fantastic to think that the site could be deemed “extremist” by the Russian authorities in the future (”moral decaying American influence” etc.) so, do you know how to permanently clear your browsing history? :))
You better pay attention to your government, Ivan.
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