On Tuesday, Radek Sikorski, Poland’s former foreign minister and a sitting member of the European Parliament, sent a tweet thanking the United States for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, which carry natural gas from Russia to Europe. The tweet came in response to reports that the pipelines had suffered simultaneous, unexplained pressure losses.
American involvement remains unconfirmed, but it’s far-fetched to think the Russians are behind the sabotage. Nord Stream 1 and 2 represent a massive investment for Moscow. Plus, if the Russians want to cut gas flow, they can simply turn off the tap. Sailing across the Baltic to the small island of Bornholm to sabotage their own underwater pipeline would be strategically nonsensical.
Meanwhile, Victoria Nuland, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs, and President Biden himself are on the record saying that in the event of war in Ukraine, Washington would find a way to “stop” Nord Stream 2, no matter what the pipeline’s German customers thought.
A recent essay in Foreign Policy reflects the strange new consensus among Western leaders. Under the headline “Putin’s Energy War is Crushing Europe,” the writer takes note of the mounting crisis on the Continent—but clarifies that “the big question is whether it ends up undermining support for Ukraine.” This single-minded focus on “winning” in Ukraine, with no real concept of costs or timelines, tells us that Ukraine has turned into America’s latest “forever war.”