You just might have a point.
I never thought of that.
Still, he has a hand on the cut-off valve for European energy already. If he blows up the pipeline, he loses the power to turn it off and on, so he loses the ability to influence EU policy. He gives up the carrot AND the stick! It sounds like he's shooting himself in the foot. And even if it works just like he hoped for, and the EU/US throws Ukraine under the bus, he's stuck with all this gas and his best market will be lost to him. Maybe he can sell it to the Chinese, but they'll never trust him to honor his word in the future.