The Russian Gas Bridge into a Climate-neutral Age has collapsed - Is there a Plan B for Germany?

Since the end of September, 2022, there has been final certainty: the acts of sabotage against the Nord Stream I and II pipelines turn the two pipes between Wyborg in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast and the German seaport Lubmin into a billion-dollar investment ruin. Whereas before, the demand to open the Nord Stream II pipeline or to push Kiev into negotiations with Moscow in order to reestablish gas flows to Europe had been voiced only by the political fringes and an inconvincible minority that seems indifferent to the fate of Ukraine, it is now very clear that Germany as the rest of Europe will have to manage largely without energy supplies from Russia for this winter, next winter and probably many winters to come. Although it is not conclusively proven that the Kremlin is behind the attacks, the blowing up of the pipelines stands symbolically for a severing of the last remaining links with the West. The almost simultaneous annexation of 15 percent of Ukraine’s territory also makes it clear that Moscow is continuing to escalate, and seems to be settling for an indefinite period of time with a pariah role in the international community of states.