232
Affirming the US commitment to halt the pipeline development, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo told legislators that the United States intends to impose sanctions
against companies working to help Russia build a natural-gas pipeline to Europe.
Pompeo explained that Washington had already contacted companies involved in the
pipeline to explain the consequences of their continued involvement. Washington
strongly opposes the pipeline, which would run under the Baltic Sea, bypassing
Ukraine, and doubling Russia’s natural gas exports to Germany. Washington believes
the pipeline would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas at a cost of billions
of dollars to Ukraine through lost transit fees (https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-u-swill-do-everything-to-stop-nord-stream-2/30757543.html 2020).
North Stream 2 has been very politicized and under siege from countries in
Central and Eastern Europe, most prominently Poland, which believe that the pipeline could increase Russian dominance as a natural gas supplier not only in CEE
region but also in Western Europe, which could potentially provide Russia with
geopolitical influence. In the process, North Stream 2 has been subjected to the
requirement of the EU Third Energy Package, which—among other—includes
unbundling. And US sanctions stopped its construction right before completion.
This helped Ukraine to negotiate 5 years of more gas transit via its territory. The
longer North Stream 2 is not completed, the more diversification infrastructure
comes online and the less of an issue North Stream 2 really becomes (www.forbes.
com 2020a, b, c, d, e).
Energy Diplomacy Under Biden
The Caspian Sea and its energy resources have not been among Biden’s foreign
policy priorities, and it is not to be expected that his inauguration as US President
will lead to a significant change in US foreign policy toward the Caspian littoral
states, Democrats naturally go back to environmental treaties and a series of treaties
that Trump easily pulled out of. Democrats are more committed to international
treaties and are usually somewhat ahead with Europe on environmental issues and
attach great importance to alternative energy.
Biden Climate Plan
When Trump came to power, he withdrew from the environmental treaty, while
Democrats strongly believe that they should be active in environmental treaties and
support environmental treaties. However, Trump simply departed from such commitments and easily violated the agreed international environmental cooperation at
the Paris Summit. According to the Biden Climate Plan, the goal is to completely
eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from US electricity generation by 2035. This is
in favor of clean energy such as wind, solar, and nuclear energy, and leaves little
6 Trump Energy Diplomacy
Affirming the US commitment to halt the pipeline development, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo told legislators that the United States intends to impose sanctions
against companies working to help Russia build a natural-gas pipeline to Europe.
Pompeo explained that Washington had already contacted companies involved in the
pipeline to explain the consequences of their continued involvement. Washington
strongly opposes the pipeline, which would run under the Baltic Sea, bypassing
Ukraine, and doubling Russia’s natural gas exports to Germany. Washington believes
the pipeline would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas at a cost of billions
of dollars to Ukraine through lost transit fees (https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-u-swill-do-everything-to-stop-nord-stream-2/30757543.html 2020).
North Stream 2 has been very politicized and under siege from countries in
Central and Eastern Europe, most prominently Poland, which believe that the pipeline could increase Russian dominance as a natural gas supplier not only in CEE
region but also in Western Europe, which could potentially provide Russia with
geopolitical influence. In the process, North Stream 2 has been subjected to the
requirement of the EU Third Energy Package, which—among other—includes
unbundling. And US sanctions stopped its construction right before completion.
This helped Ukraine to negotiate 5 years of more gas transit via its territory. The
longer North Stream 2 is not completed, the more diversification infrastructure
comes online and the less of an issue North Stream 2 really becomes (www.forbes.
com 2020a, b, c, d, e).
Energy Diplomacy Under Biden
The Caspian Sea and its energy resources have not been among Biden’s foreign
policy priorities, and it is not to be expected that his inauguration as US President
will lead to a significant change in US foreign policy toward the Caspian littoral
states, Democrats naturally go back to environmental treaties and a series of treaties
that Trump easily pulled out of. Democrats are more committed to international
treaties and are usually somewhat ahead with Europe on environmental issues and
attach great importance to alternative energy.
Biden Climate Plan
When Trump came to power, he withdrew from the environmental treaty, while
Democrats strongly believe that they should be active in environmental treaties and
support environmental treaties. However, Trump simply departed from such commitments and easily violated the agreed international environmental cooperation at
the Paris Summit. According to the Biden Climate Plan, the goal is to completely
eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from US electricity generation by 2035. This is
in favor of clean energy such as wind, solar, and nuclear energy, and leaves little
6 Trump Energy Diplomacy