It is interesting for us europeans to see that Russia will provide oil and gaz to most peoples in Asia and Europe. Naturally, you have tremendous amounts of those energies to sell. Have-you ever thought about the fact than everything has an end. America has what is called: strategic reserves; that is why she use everybody else ressources and keep her own in her soil. Let us hope than your decisions' makers are not mistaken. Russia must develop a complete economy, not relying so much on selling her natural ressources. Think about the Futur... Sincerely. Jean-Claude Meslin

When both the North Stream and the South Stream begin their deliveries through, there will be only one main loser: Ukraine !!! As for Poland, I guess it will be buying gas from Italy, as Pols do not like to heavily depend on Germany? I find indeed that is a wise approach pursued by Pols.

(1) The Baltic pipeline is not a connection between Russia and Europe so much as a connection between Russia and Germany. Such a connection is very heavily laden with historical baggage which only half the cast (Germany) has repudiated. A new “special relationship” between Russia and Germany appears understandably sinister to many of the countries who suffered so grievously under the last one. (2) Russia has a record of using trade not simply as a commercial venture, but also as an instrument of exerting political pressure in support of foreign policy goals that originate in aspects of unreconstructed Soviet-era chauvinism. Previously Russia’s ability to punish specific neighbours through cutting off gas supplies was limited by the fact that this also cut off supplies from other customers down the line, but now this constraint will be much reduced. This worries countries that were made dependent on Russian energy by Soviet coercion, and that now find themselves at the mercy of geopolitical whims of a not altogether reconstructed Russia. (3) The fact that a land-based pipeline would be considerably cheaper both to construct and to maintain clearly sends the message that Russia chose the sea route with not just normal commercial factors in mind. (4) The maintenance of a sea-bed pipeline could be used to justify a new level of Russian military presence in the Baltic, which again causes justifiable consternation to those nearby nations that have not yet recovered from Russia’s previous unacknowledged and unapologised-for Soviet-era military aggression against them. (5) The Baltic seabed holds large volumes of scuttled WW2 weaponry and sunk cargoes, including poison agents, and given the almost inland sea nature of the Baltic, its natural water exchange is a very slow process, taking years for a natural cycle to be completed. There has been minimal environmental investigation of the risks posed by disturbing such lethal deposits.

If Russia and EU countries can do this right, there will be a half-dozen transit countries through which Russian gas goes to European customers. That way no single country can hold Russia and the EU hostage, like Ukraine did last January. Eventually we will have to develop alternate sources for energy, but in the meantime, Nordstream and Southstream will ease some bottlenecks.