In “U.S., Russia Race to Outflank Each Other on Russian Pipeline,” Wall Street Journal reporter Brett Forrest recounts the down to the wire race to stop the Nord Stream 2 trans-Baltic gas pipeline, a line seen as rendering Ukraine defenseless against full-fledged Russian intervention. In the 1,800-word story, one villain emerges: US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin. Forrest writes: “Mr. Mnuchin, whose department enforces sanctions, was opposed, these former officials said. ‘He was a big hang-up at every turning point,’ said one.” Two Washington lobbyist heroes emerge: Vadym Glamazdin, a government-relations official with Naftogaz, and Oleksandr Kharchenko, an official at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
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