Foreign Policy
“Since even with Nord Stream 2, transit through Ukraine of some Russian gas into Europe will continue, the statement is just a polite acknowledgement of that fact,” says Brenda Shaffer, an energy expert at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies. (She’s argued that Nord Stream isn’t the threat that many in Europe and the United States make it out to be.)
“Merkel has made some major decisions on a whim, such as closing Germany’s nuclear power plants and inviting a large refugee flow, so this could signify a new policy,” Shaffer says.