Expanding the capacity of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea is a purely commercial ambition, a Kremlin spokesman said Monday. Sweden’s government became the latest to issue the permit necessary for Russian energy company Gazprom to build and operate the 315-mile section of the planned second leg of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in its territorial waters. Gazprom is doubling the pipeline with more capacity along the network’s existing 760-mile artery. Permits from Russia and Denmark are pending. Russia is one of the main suppliers of natural gas to the European economy, though most of that gas runs through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine where it’s exposed to security risks. The Nord Stream pipeline avoids Ukrainian territory […]