Washington's push for war has two distinct aspects.

• Here is a very significant and insightful article by Mike Whitney in which he describes why Washington wants war and is deliberately provoking Russia to cause military conflict. Article

• Washington provokes war to mask its domestic issues. Article

In addition to leading to trade between Germany and Russia Nord Stream 2 could also support the development of economic integration with China's belt and road and possibly Iran with levels of trust and shared benefits that would be immune to US sanctions and threats of sanctions.

Russia already has a contract to provide China with gas for 30 years. Russia and China have a fully operational alternative to SWIFT.

The US ploy needs to be seen and treated for what it is, a flagrant attempt to retain economic and political influence despite risking nuclear war and deliberately causing dissent and friction where there could be co-operation and trust.

The stated policy of the US and NATO is to place missiles in Ukraine were Ukraine to join NATO. The flight time for these missiles to Moscow is five minutes. This is entirely unacceptable and an example of why Russia is taking action now to prevent this happening.