There is one basic point to remember about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany: it does not add any extra natural gas supply to the European market for the foreseeable future.

This Molotov-Ribbentrop 2 pipeline - as the furious Poles call it - diverts the same Siberian gas from existing pipelines on land: the Yamal link through Belarus and Poland; and the ill-named Brotherhood link through Ukraine to South-East Europe.

These pipelines are in working order and running well below full capacity. They need updating but are essentially sunk costs, and require no ecological upheaval.

The Nord Stream 2 venture creates a sweetheart arrangement with Germany while undermining the security and economic interests of Eastern and Central Europe, and leaves Ukraine at the mercy of Kremlin blackmail.

"It does nothing whatsoever to supply the EU with gas. It deprives the East Europeans of political leverage and rewards an aggressor state," said Professor Alan Riley form the Institute for Statecraft.

The second set of Nord Stream tubes will double the flows through four pipelines close together in the shallow waters of the Baltic - just 15 to 20 meters deep in places - leaving 75pc of the EU's gas imports (excluding Norway) vulnerable to terrorist attacks.