Russia once again finds itself locked in a battle with Europe over a new proposal for a natural gas pipeline. Like the push for and ultimate failure of South Stream, the fight for TurkStream — a project that would bring Russian natural gas to Europe by way of Greece and Turkey — is riddled with potential roadblocks, including heavy political resistance from European consumers. But this time, the competition may end in Russia's favor. Having learned from its past missteps, and with few options left for circumventing Ukraine, Moscow is determined to keep TurkStream from sharing South Stream's fate. The South Stream pipeline project arose during a series of natural gas disputes between Ukraine and Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, in the mid-2000s. Russia, seeking the payment of debts owed by Ukraine's Naftogaz, cut off Ukraine's natural gas supplies in the hope of pressuring Kiev to pay out.