Russian pipeline faces big hurdles amid Ukraine tensions

Russia's natural gas pipeline to Europe is built and filling with gas

FRANKFURT, Germany -- The pipeline is built and being filled with natural gas. But Russia’s Nord Stream 2 faces a rocky road before any gas flows to Germany, with its new leaders adopting a more skeptical tone toward the project and tensions ratcheting up over Russia’s troop buildup at the Ukrainian border.

The pipeline opposed by Ukraine, Poland and the U.S. awaits final approval from Germany and the European Union to bypass other countries and start bringing natural gas directly to Europe. The continent is struggling with a shortage that has sent prices surging, fueling inflation and raising fears about what would come next if gas supplies become critically low.

The U.S. has stressed targeting Nord Stream 2 as a way to counter any new Russian military move against Ukraine, and the project already faces legal and bureaucratic hurdles. As European and U.S. leaders confer on how to deal with Russia's pressure on Ukraine, persistent political objections — particularly from EU members like Poland — add another challenge to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's key projects.

Former longtime German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the pipeline, and the country's new leader, Olaf Scholz, did so while serving as her finance minister. But his new government has taken a noticeably more distanced tone after the Greens party became part of the governing coalition. The Greens' campaign position was that the fossil fuel pipeline doesn't help fight global warming and undermines strategic EU interests.