'US Has Started Using Foreign Policy as Tool in Its Business Interests' - Expert

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stated before that Washington should continue to push for termination of the Nord Stream 2 project. Moscow, for its part, sees this as an attempt to unfairly promote US gas exports. Sputnik has discussed the rationale behind Mr. Pompeo's attack on Nord Stream 2 with Ben Aris, editor in chief of bne IntelliNews.

Sputnik: The Russian Embassy views Mr. Pompeo's remarks as an attempt to unfairly promote US gas exports. What is your take on the rationale for Mr. Pompeo's attack on Nord Stream 2?

Ben Aris: The thing with pipelines is that they are intensely political. And so with the question of Nord Stream 2 you can divide it into the economics part and the political part. Because the problem with pipelines is that they're very difficult to get built in the first place, because they cost an enormous amount of money and once they're built you can't undo them.

READ MORE: Just Business? US Prepares to Hit Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline With Sanctions

So that if you're in a commercial relationship as Russia is proposing to get into with Germany, in supplying these pipelines once the pipeline's up you're stuck with that relationship forever. As a result everybody has to be very sure about the politics in the relationship in the long-term.

So looking at it from a purely economic point of view, yes I think Lavrov is right. I think that the States has clearly started to use foreign policy as a tool in its economic, its business interests.

And Trump's shown that there's a very protectionist streak, it started with the duties that he's slapped on metals and now they're lobbying very hard to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline coming online because the Americans are now the exporters of gas for the first time thanks to the shale production. And they've built all these very expensive energy facilities which allows them, as of only year or two, to export energy to the rest of the world. And energy is, well gas in general, is a lucrative business and they're looking at the European market where energy needs to continue to go up and so Europe is in need of gas in order to power its industry. And the Nord Stream 2, because piped gas is a lot cheaper than energy, you know liquid frozen gas. That the Russian gas is much more competitive. So they don't want to see it for commercial reasons.

Sputnik: Actually earlier the German Energy Minister Peter Altmaier said that even if Germany were to suspend the Nord Stream 2 it would still be of little help to the US. Do you agree with that and what exactly can the US lose by the Nord Stream coming up or is there really that much at stake here for the United States?

Ben Aris: Well, I think that energy exports for them, it's a business but it's not going to be a massive business. America has actually come up the tables rapidly to become one of the biggest producers of oil and gas from nowhere over the last 5-6 years. And so they're looking to establish a market but all said and done, if they don't get a big chunk of the European market, then that's not going to hurt their economy. They effectively keep the prices down.

READ MORE: US Ambassador Tilts Nord Stream-2 Amid 'Problematic Russian Influence'

There's been 10 million barrels of oil added to the global production which is one of the reasons why prices of oil are so low at the moment and not likely to go back to $150. Having said that, they're playing the game that they accuse Russia of, insomuch as if you are a strategic supplier of energy to anyone then that gives you considerable political clout and I think they're interested in adding that political clout to their relationship with Europe by becoming a major energy supplier which at the moment of course they are not.

Sputnik: And also it seems that the president and CEO of LNG Allies said that he doubted the US administration would actually go ahead with sanctions against Nord Stream. Do you think that that is still the case after Mr. Pompeo's comments?

Ben Aris: From where I sit, the American administration is sort of out of control it's become impossible to predict because they've sort of thrown all these long-standing relationships out of the window and are focused on what seems to me very commercially-orientated short-term goals. And to sanction European countries for not effectively buying American energy is insane because they're supposed to be allies and you put Europe in a very uncomfortable position where it now has to ally itself with Russia against Washington because it sees itself to be unfairly penalized by these American aggressive market tactics which they're not happy about at all.

The idea was that the West is supposed to unite and bring Russia into line with generally accepted practices but nowadays American foreign policy seems to be driven entirely by commercial ends of making more money for American companies. And then screw you relationships with your traditional allies, make them pay. So I don't see this lasting beyond the Trump administration but in the meantime everyone has sort of hunkered down, like how do we get through the next 2-3 years?

The views and opinions expressed by Ben Aris are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.