
Good riddance Nord Stream 2. Now Europe has a golden opportunity
CNN
Nord Stream 2 was always a terrible idea -- it shouldn't have taken the threat of war to finally grind it to a halt, writes Paul Hockenos. Now that Germany has suspended the controversial gas pipeline, Europe has an opportunity to throw off Putin's stranglehold of its energy supplies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz' suspension of the gas pipeline's approval is one of the first sanctions that the West has imposed on President Vladimir Putin for Russia's blatant breach of Ukraine's sovereignty. Scholz made good on a threat the Germans were hesitant to invoke, given what they see as its far-reaching implications for the economy.

The White House is making clear it views President Donald Trump’s Friday Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an overwhelming win underscoring Trump’s “America First” leadership, dispatching top officials and allies on the airwaves to amplify Trump’s handling of the situation even as European leaders are putting on a key show of force of unity for Ukraine and its leader.