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Comment by KETpXDDzR | Hacker News Reader

I always like to ask myself what the motive is.

- The US, bc they want to sell more LNG. However, that's very limited by LNG terminals atm.

- China, so that Russia is forced to sell to them and for a cheaper price (and China want to be less dependent on LNG via ships)

- Russia not so much. They want to sell gas to Europe and now that the pipelines are broken, they can't use it as leverage anymore

- UK and other European countries: To stop discussions about starting to purchase gas from Russia again

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This is a very naive take in Russia. It’s effectively a dictatorship and there’s no reason to think that one of their main goals is rational economic expansion

According to Adam Curtis [0], Putin might be a puppet, controlled by a group of oligarchs. The hope that once Putin goes, everything will be alright is an utopian idea. IMO the Russian government might use Putin as a scapegoat, replace him, and use that to deny any wrongdoing ("It was all his idea").

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=663vLIYBcpI

LNG terminals are expensive, take years to build and are a complete waste of money if a pipeline is about to be switched on.

So, this is a good way to get investment for some LNG terminals approved.

Another one for the US/UK would be to prevent Russia from selling to wider markets at inflated prices, which has been the only thing preventing their economy from collapsing.

Russia didn't want to sell to Europe once Europe said that they are going to wind down purchases anyway.

If we are speculating without any basis then why not also Turkey, Qatar or Azerbaijan? Maybe Iran?

They are all profiting from either selling their own gas or reselling Russian gas.

After deep reflection my bet is on Venezuela. They are in the worst shape so they will benefit the most. /sarcasm

Please, stop speculating without any basis. You can make a case for basically anyone who trades gas or had any issues with Russia.

Russia doesn't have the infrastructure to sell this gas to China. Nevertheless it could still be advantageous to China, since now Russia will be more desperate to close deals in general.

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