Title: Behind Nord Stream 2: The Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline that fueled Trump's tirade
Headings: Behind Nord Stream 2: The Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline that fueled Trump’s anger at NATO meeting
Behind Nord Stream 2: The Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline that fueled Trump’s anger at NATO meeting
Key Points
What is Nord Stream 2?
Why is Nord Stream 2 controversial?
Where does the United States stand?
Does Germany need the supplies via Nord Stream?

Content: One that is not dependent on Russia and subject to being an instrument of Russian aggression. We are against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for that very reason, which would for the European continent undermine our goals of energy diversification and energy independence but at least as significantly it would undermine Ukraine. In May, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy Sandra Oudkirk told reporters the United States could sanction Nord Stream 2, using a law passed in 2017 that targets Russian energy projects around the world. Does Germany need the supplies via Nord Stream? Germany is Europe’s biggest natural gas consumer, and its demand is expected to rise by about 1 percent over the next five years as it phases out its fleet of nuclear power plants by 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. Germany is heavily reliant on Russia for natural gas. Russia provided between 50 percent and 75 percent of Germany’s gas imports in 2017, according to Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistics arm. Germany turned to Russia for roughly half of its oil imports last year. Earlier this year, Ukraine’s Naftogaz claimed Gazprom could utilize spare capacity in the Ukrainian transit system to supply the 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany that it plans to ship through Nord Stream 2. In the longer term, Germany is trying to generate most of its power from renewable energy.