Biden invites Zelensky as Nord Stream II plan emerges

The White House announced that it had invited Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit on Aug 30. Zelensky will meet U.S.
President Joe Biden, and the trip is meant to “affirm the United States’
unwavering support” for Ukraine, whitehouse.gov published on July 21.

High on the agenda will be energy security. The
meeting comes as the Biden administration and Germany announce an agreement
regarding the completion of the Nord Stream II pipeline. The deal has drawn
political condemnation in Washington, Berlin, Warsaw, and Kyiv, politico.com
reported on July 21.

James Hydzik: The issue of
the completion of Nord Stream II has been covered in the press extensively for
years. The consequences are also well known. What has gotten lost in the noise
of the last few days has been the potential repurposing of Ukraine’s GTS for
transporting hydrogen.

The Politico report pointed to environmental
issues, such as cheaper Russian gas, via Nord Stream II, replacing dirtier
coal. However, an analyst in it also pointed to this massive argument over,
effectively, a legacy fuel, as “insane”, and with the prospect of a) weaning
Europe off dirtier fuels, b) weaning Ukraine’s government off of Russian
payments (and thus, blackmail), and c) creating a massive clean fuel production
industry within Ukraine itself – one just as strategic in transmission terms as
the current GTS, then pushing green hydrogen in Ukraine must become a refrain
in Washington, Berlin, and Kyiv.