RELATED: Biden imposes sanctions against Russian oligarchs, banks for ‘beginning’ of Ukraine invasionNow it’s become a major target as Western governments try to exert leverage on Russia to deter further military moves against Ukraine. THE RUNDOWN Nord Stream 2 is a 764-mile-long natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, running from Russia to Germany's Baltic coast.
It runs parallel to an earlier Nord Stream pipeline and would double its capacity, to 110 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
It means the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom can send gas to Europe's pipeline system without using existing pipelines running through Ukraine and Poland.WHY DOES RUSSIA WANT THE PIPELINE? State-owned gas giant Gazprom says it will meet Europe's growing need for affordable natural gas and complement existing pipelines through Belarus and Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 would offer an alternative to Ukraine's aging system that Gazprom says needs refurbishment, lower costs by saving transit fees paid to Ukraine, and avoid episodes like brief 2006 and 2009 gas cutoffs over price and payment disputes between Russia and Ukraine.