The USA Factor in Russia and European Union Energy Relations

The research analyses the impact of US on energy relations between Russia and European Union. This study aims to assess how the U.S. impact on energy relations between Russia and the European Union. The author describes it using an analysis of the U.S. political position towards cooperation between Russia and European Union in the field of energy and examination of the general methods of influence. The work attends to the initiatives of the United States targeting the impact on the EU energy market. The research bases on political discourse analysis and employs various international relations theories. The paper demonstrates that the main influence on Russia- EU relations in energy sector lies in political support for the construction of infrastructure bypassing Russia and lobbying freedom from Russian energy. In sum United States paid considerable attention to encouragement technologies that can reduce dependence on Russia. However, there is not any reduction in RF share of energy market and probably the decrease will not happen in the future, as none of the proposed alternatives can replace Russian hydrocarbons at the moment.