Title: How Dependent Is Germany On Russian Gas?
Headings: How Dependent Is Germany On Russian Gas?
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How Dependent Is Germany On Russian Gas?

Content: But Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to phase out both of those energy sources within the next decade. The country has an ambitious renewable energy expansion program in place called the Energiewende which is designed to replace those energy sources with solar and wind. But sceptics say it is more likely to be replaced by Russian gas – hence the economic imperative of the new Nord Stream II pipeline which Trump criticised at the NATO summit. On Tuesday diplomats from Germany, the EU, Ukraine and Russia met in Berlin to try to bridge the political divides for this project. But the underlying economic reality is more stark. Germany may not be “controlled” by a dependency on Russian gas at the moment, but if the disappearing coal and nuclear energy is replaced by Russian gas, it would quickly be in a situation where it is. And that has many in the West very concerned.