Europe and the United States are stuck in the debate on Nord Stream 2. The disagreement over the Russian-German pipeline is more complex than many arguments made by various parties would suggest. It is not a clear-cut energy security issue, as it is sometimes presented: Nord Stream 2 would not inevitably increase the amount of Russian gas in Europe or Europe’s dependence on it, nor would it need to limit individual countries’ access to gas. Instead, the issue is a thorny one because it combines a multitude of considerations – from supply diversification to different countries’ business interests; from legal commitments to historical distrust and sanctions against allies’ projects – and spices them up with the political passions of the day.