News Analysis U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday appointed a senior advisor for energy security whose immediate focus will be mitigation of risks posed by Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to energy security in Europe, according to a statement. Amos Hochstein, a former diplomat, was nominated a senior advisor for Energy Security at the Department and he’s been tasked with implementing measures recently agreed by the United States and Germany to reduce the risk of Russia using energy as a weapon. Hochstein, who held a number of senior advisor positions in the government and the private sector, was also a special envoy for international energy affairs and an assistant secretary of state for energy resources during President Barack Obama’s tenure. A joint statement issued by the United States and Germany in July sought to mitigate Russian efforts to use energy as a weapon against Ukraine and Central …