EAccording to US President Joe Biden, a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean the end of the controversial German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on Monday, Biden said that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine “there will be no more Nord Stream 2. We will put an end to this.” When asked how he planned to do that on a project under German control, Biden said: “I promise you that we will do it.”
Scholz did not mention Nord Stream 2 by name during his inaugural visit to the White House. At the press conference, the SPD politician again emphasized that possible sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine had been intensively prepared. Part of it is not to name everything, so as not to disclose all plans to Moscow in advance. However, Scholz promised: “We will act in complete agreement on the sanctions.” The transatlantic partners are united on the issue and would take the same steps. These would be very tough for Russia: “If there is a military aggression against Ukraine, then there will be tough, commonly agreed and far-reaching sanctions. “It will have very, very high costs for Russia to take such a step.” In his view, this message had also reached Russia.
Nord Stream 2 is to bring Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. There has been massive criticism of the project in the USA for years, which has increased significantly since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis. Berlin’s refusal to supply arms to Ukraine also causes irritation. Some allies have accused Scholz of not putting enough pressure on Russia in the Ukraine crisis. Doubts have also been raised in the USA as to whether Germany can be counted on in an emergency. Given the deployment of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, it is feared that the Kremlin is planning an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow denies that. It is also considered possible that the Russian side wants to stir up fears in order to persuade NATO to make concessions on demands for new security guarantees.
Biden: “There is no need to regain confidence”
With regard to the German-American relationship, Biden said that Germany enjoys the complete trust of the United States. “It is not necessary to regain trust,” said Biden when asked about Germany’s reliability in the Ukraine crisis. Germany has the full confidence of the United States. “Germany is one of our most important allies in the world. There is no doubt about Germany’s partnership with the United States,” Biden said. “I have absolutely no doubts about Germany.”
According to the US, Russia is further strengthening its troops on the border with Ukraine. Even over the weekend, Russia sent more troops to the borders with Ukraine and Belarus, a US Defense Department spokesman said. Russia has gathered well over 100,000 soldiers and there are always more there. It appears that none of the Russian forces are aimed directly at NATO’s eastern flank.
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