Nord Stream 2: What to know about the controversial gas pipeline connecting Russia with Europe
Russia-Ukraine: New details from the ground as 'invasion' underway
Russia's actions in the last 24 hours have signaled the "beginning of an invasion" President Joe Biden said, as UN and U.S. officials await to see what President Vladimir Putin does next. LiveNOW speaks with Fox's Lucas Tomlinson from inside Ukraine as we learn the latest developments from the ground.
With Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine, attention has turned once again to the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia to Europe via Germany.
The undersea pipeline, which is complete but not yet operating, was an irritant in U.S.-German relations well before Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas.
RELATED: Biden imposes sanctions against Russian oligarchs, banks for ‘beginning’ of Ukraine invasion
Now it’s become a major target as Western governments try to exert leverage on Russia to deter further military moves against Ukraine.
THE RUNDOWN
Nord Stream 2 is a 764-mile-long natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, running from Russia to Germany's Baltic coast.
It runs parallel to an earlier Nord Stream pipeline and would double its capacity, to 110 billion cubic meters of gas a year. It means the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom can send gas to Europe's pipeline system without using existing pipelines running through Ukraine and Poland.
WHY DOES RUSSIA WANT THE PIPELINE?
State-owned gas giant Gazprom says it will meet Europe's growing need for affordable natural gas and complement existing pipelines through Belarus and Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 would offer an alternative to Ukraine's aging system that Gazprom says needs refurbishment, lower costs by saving transit fees paid to Ukraine, and avoid episodes like brief 2006 and 2009 gas cutoffs over price and payment disputes between Russia and Ukraine.
Europe is a key market for Gazprom, whose sales support the Russian government budget. Europe needs gas because it's replacing decommissioned coal and nuclear plants before renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are sufficiently built up.
GERMANY’S REACTION TO THE CRISIS
The pipeline has been filled with gas but had been awaiting approval by Germany and the European Commission.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline after Russia recognized separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine.
Germany's utility regulator was reviewing the pipeline for compliance with European regulations on fair competition. It's that approval process that Scholz said Tuesday that he was suspending.
Germany was required to submit a report on how the pipeline would affect energy security, and Scholz said that report was being withdrawn.
Though he initially backed the project, Scholz warned that Russia would face "severe consequences" and that sanctions must be ready ahead of time. Germany had agreed with the U.S. to act against Nord Stream 2 if Russia used gas as a weapon or attacked Ukraine.
THE U.S. POSITION ON NORD STREAM 2
Despite strenuous objections, Biden waived sanctions against the pipeline's operator when it was almost complete in return for an agreement from Germany to take action against Russia if it used gas as a weapon or attacks Ukraine.
Experts at the time warned that Germany’s deal would allow Russia to supply natural gas would be rewarding Russia for bad behavior after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.