That is why Ukraine, the US and Poland in particular all loathed it.

Let's be extremely clear, that Poland loathed it for a specific, different reason: There was and still is a pipeline from Russia to Germany, that is on land that goes through Poland. Which means there is a switch that Poland was in control of, that they could use politically, to threaten German Gas supply, independently of the diplomacy between Russia and Germany.

The thing they hated was losing that political leverage.

And let's also be extremely clear, that the US is also a Gas exporting country, who was against the deal, because they don't like Russia and have an economic interest in selling their own Gas.

Why Ukraine didn't like it should be obvious.

But anyway, fuck the BBC for downplaying the political and economic interest involved.

The basis for the EU started with a pact between France and Germany, exchanging coal and steel. They HATED each other. And look where we are now. Merkel was an awful chancellor. But building on and believing into a chance that things could work out similarly between Russia and Germany and the rest of Europe was not stupid.

Last year, he was arrested in Warsaw on a warrant issued by Germany but a Polish judge refused to extradite him.

In a dramatic twist, he ruled instead that a Ukrainian attack on Nord Stream, if that was what happened, would be a "just" act in a "bloody and genocidal war".

As one source close to the case put it to me: "The Poles don't like Ukrainians, historically, but they hate Russians and Germans even more."

Not a war officially involving Germany or Poland, at the moment. So, personal feelings over international law, huh? Anyway...

I don't particularly care about the outcome tbh, the damage is done, nobody will propose to rebuild it at least not during the war. The individuals did wrong, but they also acted on orders. It's not a case of a small theft where we're expecting personal moral improvement. Everyone knew the legal and moral implications.

And also, the only possible actors were the US and Ukraine. That was clear from day one, the "the Russians did it" was silly. Why would they have blown up their own pipeline? The other neighboring countries would have stood nothing to gain, but if they were found out it would have been a massive political problem, not worth any benefits.

Ukraine has their back against the wall, they try everything, which I think is fine from that point of view.

The US could have ignored the political fallout and had a political and financial interest to do it.