U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price claimed in a Jan. 26 interview with NPR that mere American threats of devastating economic and financial measures against Russia were already causing Russia’s bond market and currency to sink and creating great difficulties for credit in that country. Unexpectedly for Price, however, on Jan. 27 the Russian ruble rapidly rebounded from a low of 80 to the dollar to 77, as did the Moscow stock market and the prices of Russian corporate bonds. According to Moscow Times, this apparently followed Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comments that Russia was determined to avoid war and saw possibilities for further negotiations with the United States after receiving the U.S. replies rejecting Russia’s proposals. The news reports that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy clearly does not expect an imminent Russian invasion, also helped.
Price, however, strongly implied in the same interview that the Biden Administration is now determined to keep the Nord Stream 2 pipeline shut indefinitely. Asked by interviewer Ari Shapiro whether Germany would stop the Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine, Price’s answer, as reported by the New York Post Jan. 27, was: “Well, Ari, I’d make two points here. Number one, gas is not currently flowing through Nord Stream 2 … Nord Stream 2 right now is not operational. It is leverage for us. It is leverage for Germany. It is leverage for the trans-Atlantic community because gas is not flowing. To be clear, it is not leverage for Vladimir Putin. Second point — and I want to be very clear. If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward, and we want to be very clear about that.”
