-By sabotaging both pipelines it stops the Europeans from abandoning the sanctions policy if they have a long cold winter. That is the pipeline remains the most immediate relief in a cold winter. All they needed was to flick a switch. -There can't be any contractual liabilities that will accrue as the sanctions made the contracts void.The same way Boeing and Airbus were forced to drop 20 Billion contracts to supply Iran with planes after Trump re-imposed sanctions.