President Trump continued his relentless offense against Russian gas in Europe this week by threatening to slap sanctions on Germany for its equally relentless support of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project that will increase the flow of Russian gas into Europe. Bloomberg quoted the U.S. President as saying “We’re protecting Germany from Russia, and Russia is getting billions and billions of dollars in money from Germany,” during his meeting with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in the White House. Threats of sanctions have come from Washington earlier as well, targeting European companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 project, including supermajor Shell, Austria’s OMV, and German Wintershall and Uniper, along with French Engie. The U.S. argument is that an expansion of the existing Nord Stream pipeline would deepen Germany’s—and Europe’s—dependence on Russian gas at a time when they should be reducing this dependence and diversifying into other sources, […]