Warming Russia-Turkey Relations Send a Chill Through Ukraine

Despite rising tensions among Russia, Turkey and the West over civil war in Syria, agreements are emerging over sending natural gas from Russia to Europe. Proposed development of two new pipelines would allow Russia to pass Ukraine in sending gas to the rest of Europe, reports Fred Weir for the Christian Science Monitor: “With TurkStream, Turkey will stand to become the chief distributor for Gazprom on the EU's southern flank. And Germany, whose leading companies are backing the controversial NordStream II pipeline that will double Russian gas flow to the EU under the Baltic Sea, will become the undisputed main gas hub for northern Europe.” Ukraine once gained financially from acting as a geographic intermediary between two giants. Analysts agree that the possibility of a simultaneous TurkStream and Nordstream is causing “huge alarm” as “it is a very big blow to Ukraine.” – YaleGlobal