Russia: Nuclear strike would turn Germany into a wasteland

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The controversial gas pipeline bypasses the borders of Ukraine and Poland in the Baltic Sea, to feed Russian gas directly into Germany. US and German officials signed off on the £8billion (€9.5billion) project on the condition that Russia would not escalate its conflict with Ukraine – a conflict that led to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. But tensions in the region are flaring once again with thousands of Russian troops being stationed along the Ukrainian border in recent weeks.

Fears of a full-scale invasion are now at an all-time high and Mr Biden has been accused of allowing the already precarious situation to further destabilise.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz laid into the Democrat President before Congress, heavily implying the US had rubberstamped the invasion of Ukraine by giving Nord Stream 2 its approval.

According to Mr Cruz, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been waiting for an opportunity to strike since 2014.

He said: “Right now, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are massed on the border of Ukraine waiting to invade.

“The reason for that is because Joe Biden surrendered to Vladimir Putin on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

“That is the direct cause for the threat of military invasion Ukraine faces right now.

“Putin didn’t just wake up one day and decide to invade Ukraine.

“He has wanted to invade Ukraine for years and, in fact, he did so in 2014.

“But he stopped short of a full invasion because he needed to use the Ukrainian energy infrastructure to get Russian natural gas to the European market.”

The final section of the Russian pipeline was laid down in September this year but the project is yet to be officially certified.

German regulators suspended the process in November over technicalities relating to EU laws.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, told reporters: “As things stand at the moment, the pipeline cannot be approved because it does not meet the requirements of European energy law and there are still safety issues.”

Both the US and Germany have since been vocal about their willingness to shut the project down should Russia make a move on Ukraine.

Ms Baerbock announced on the weekend that any sign of aggression towards Ukraine would result in the pipeline “not coming into service”.

The news came after the US reportedly secured a commitment last week from Germany to abandon the project in the event of Russian “escalation”.

Former chancellor Angela Merkle warned Russia earlier this summer not to weaponise the pipeline against Europe.

During an official visit to Kyiv, she addressed President Volodymyr Zelensky who has strongly opposed the project on the grounds of national security.

By bypassing Ukraine in the Baltic, Russia will starve Ukraine of critical transit fees.

President Zelensky called Nord Stream 2 a “geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin”, which he said would be “dangerous for all of Europe”.

According to Donald Tusk, the former President of the European Council, Ms Merkel has privately admitted to Nord Stream 2 being her “biggest mistake”.

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