At the negotiation table, the Kremlin puts forward its pawns. A close friend of Vladimir Putin develops a bold plan: the restart of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, connecting Russia to Germany, thanks to American investors.
According to several sources close to the discussions, questioned speak Financial Timesthis idea is the fruit of the imagination of Matthias Warnig, a former STASI officer in East Germany who led Nord Stream 2 until 2023. A project that seemed unthinkable a few months ago, and which shows the scale of the rapprochement between Washington and Moscow.
Tighten
The Plan of the Faith of Vladimir Putin is simple: getting into contact with the Trump administration via the intermediary of American businessmen in order to tighten economic ties between the United States and Russia, at a time when Negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict accelerate. According to this same source, investors have drawn up the main lines of a post-year agreement with the Russian giant Gazprom.
Contacted by the Financial TimesMatthias Warnig assured that he was not “involved in any discussion with politicians or representatives of American companies”, adding that he “complied with the rules [en tant que] Person sanctioned by the United States “. Europe has not remained unanswered. In recent weeks, in the past few weeks, senior officials of the European Union have been aware of the discussions around the restart project of Nord Stream 2. According to several of them, the leaders of several European countries are worried and activate behind the scenes.
The Nord Stream 2 project, whose construction was completed in 2021 for $ 11 billion, aims to transport Russian gas to Europe via a network of 1,230 kilometers of submarine pipelines. But in 2022, its future was compromised: the German government suspended the procedure for certification of the duo of gas pipelines in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, thus preventing its exploitation. Since then, the company based in Switzerland which belongs to Gazprom struggles to avoid bankruptcy. In January, Nord Stream 2 benefited from an exceptional stay of at least four months on the bankruptcy procedure. According to a legal document, the parent company argued that the new Trump administration, as well as the German elections of February 2025, could have significant consequences on the future of Nord Stream 2.
Unparalleled control for the United States
During his first presidential term, Donald Trump had openly criticized the gas pipeline. He had even signed in 2019 a law imposing the freezing of assets and the revocation of American visas for entrepreneurs linked to the gas pipeline, with the aim of sanctioning Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. But today the situation is quite different. According to the British economic daily, some members of the Trump administration now consider the gas pipeline as a strategic asset that can be used in peace negotiations in Ukraine. This project would allow the United States an unrivaled domination over the energy supply of Europe, since the ownership of the gas pipeline would give American investors a means of controlling the flows of gas to the Old Continent.
An opinion shared by the master of the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin spoke of the economic benefits that the United States could derive from Russia in the event of a settlement in Ukraine, saying that “several” companies “were already in contact with regard to potential agreements.
But the implementation of this plan cannot be done without incumbents: Russia is still the target of European sanctions, and Germany, a key member of the European Union, would, for the moment, are not to sign the rehabilitation of North Stream.