I feel like I’m missing something here. US doing that would have made them much stronger against China. I mean just imagine how much more robust the European economy would be if all the gas going to China was going right to Europe.
Though in typing that out I may have answered my own question. Is it really just because US wanted to European market to themselves? This seems incredibly short sighted.
In addition with the other reasons here already stated, I think NATO maintained it’s anti-Russia stance largely to bring countries like Poland and the Baltics states quickly into the fold.