US State Department warns of Russian energy domination in Europe
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert stated at a press briefing that the implementation of the Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2 projects will strengthen Russia's dominance of energy in Europe, which will inevitably lead to a security threat for Europe.
"We know that Europe is working to diversify its energy sector overall. It’s also assessing projects [such as Turkish Stream] that would undermine some of these efforts. We agree with many of our European partners that Nord Stream 2 and a multi-line Turkish Stream would reinforce Russian dominance in Europe’s gas markets. [And] It would pose security risks in an already tense Baltic Sea region…" Nauert stated.
The State Department spokesperson stressed that gas supplies could be used by Russia as an instrument of influence. As an example, the "gas wars" between Russia and Ukraine resulted in interruptions in gas supplies to Poland. Nauert noted that Moscow's refusal to transit gas through Ukraine and its fee reductions to Kyiv for this service are also threats. “It would advance Russia’s goal of undermining Ukraine – that’s a particular concern of ours – by ending Ukraine’s role as a transit country for Russian gas exports to get to Europe,” Nauert added.
At the end of October, the head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolyev, estimated Kyiv's losses from loss of transit of Russian gas to be $3 billion annually. He noted that this "will have extremely negative consequences" for Ukraine.