Vladimir Putin’s announcement, on 1 December, that the South Stream pipeline project is dead seemed to have caught everyone off guard. But despite the surprise element, there is also some caution, and even suspicion, involved.
While the proposed project had been “stuck” for over a year now, with high levels of frustration on both the European and Russian side, energy experts wonder whether the door has been fully shut or whether the snap announcement could also be a hidden tactic…