Could the US buy Russia's Nord Stream?
The Serbian president made the prediction following recent reports that an American investor wants to buy the gas pipeline.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was sabotaged, could become the property of an American investor within a year, and gas supplies from Russia to the EU could be restored via this connection, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.
In an interview with German news agency Handelsblatt published on December 27, Mr. Vucic shared his personal views on the future of the pipeline.
“I dare to predict: within a year at the latest, Nord Stream will be owned by an American investor, and gas will flow from Russia to Europe through this pipeline,” the Serbian leader said. “Mark my words. In a year, Nord Stream will be operational again!”
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that US financier and investor Stephen Lynch had asked the US Treasury Department for permission to buy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it were put up for auction next year.
The pipeline, built to transport gas from Russia to Germany and the rest of Western Europe, was damaged by explosions in the Baltic Sea in September 2022.
Lynch suggested that acquiring the Russian pipeline could be viewed as a strategic opportunity to serve long-term US interests. He told the WSJ that ownership of the pipeline would give the US government a tool to apply pressure in any peace talks with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Lynch reportedly claimed that he could buy Nord Stream 2, which is valued at around $11 billion, “at rock bottom,” adding that it would be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the US to control the EU’s energy supply.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the 2022 pipeline attack, Western media outlets have reported that a Ukrainian-linked special forces team was behind the incident. US journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that the US Navy planted explosives on the pipeline during NATO exercises in the Baltic Sea, and that the order to destroy the pipeline was given by President Joe Biden.
Moscow believes that Western intelligence agencies, especially those of the United States, were directly involved in the sabotage. American companies benefited from the attack as suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.
The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, said last month that his agency had information about the “direct involvement” of US and UK specialists in the Nord Stream sabotage. London and Washington, as well as Kiev, have denied any involvement.
