Why Destroying This New Russian Pipeline is Vital to Western Strategic Interests
Eastern Europe and Central Asia , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft , Foreign Relations
Concerns have continued to mount in the Western world regarding the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Russia, China and North Korea, with the construction of the large Power of Siberia 2 pipeline intended to provide for 15 percent of China’s energy needs using Russian gas further exacerbating this. The Western Bloc states have long sought to retain leverage over Russia and China through the former’s reliance on revenues from energy exports to Europe, and the latter’s reliance on energy imports through waters dominated by Western navies. The challenge to Western geopolitical interests from the new pipeline, which will seriously reduce Western leverage over both states, has gained renewed attention in the aftermath of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China and meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Calls have since surfaced in the Western world to organise an attack on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.
Prominent Fox News host Jesse Watters recently suggested that the Power of Siberia 2 be destroyed much as the Nord Stream pipeline that brought Russia gas to Europe previously was. “Someone” could blow up the pipeline, he suggested, stressing its vital importance to Russia’s economic resilience in the face of Western sanctions and independence from Europe.“Putin’s putting down a big old pipeline to China. It’s supposed to be finished next decade and supply 15 percent of China’s energy. Russia and China are growing closer. Someone might have to bomb that pipeline like Nord Stream,” he told viewers. These statements reflected broader sentiments across the Western world, at a time when the United States and countries across Europe have forces deployed to actively participate in hostilities against Russian forces in Ukraine.
Calls have been raised in the Western world for attacks on key Russian infrastructure in the past, with Western analysts have advocated attacks on the Kerch Strait bridge connecting the disputed Crimean Peninsula to the Russian mainland long before the Ukrainain state actively carried out such attacks with Western support. Calls to attack the Power of Siberia 2 follow an unprecedented success by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in attacking high value targets deep inside Russia on June 1, with a large scale drone attack targeting airbases across the country including one not far from the Chinese border. It remains plausible that such attacks could in future target key pipelines transporting Russian gas to China. Ukrainian attacks have proven capable of striking a wide range of sensitive targets inside Russia, including carrying out multiple assasinations of military officials and pro-government pubic figures. This raises the possibility that attacks on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline could be highly viable.
No comments:
Post a Comment