In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden met with Germany’s new leader Monday and vowed the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin retorted that the U.S. and its allies are the only ones talking invasion. Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the crisis before armed conflict breaks out.
Russia has massed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, adding military might almost daily. The White House has expressed increasing alarm about the prospects of war, and Biden has been looking to solidify support among European allies for economy-jarring sanctions against Russia if it attacks.
“If Russia invades, that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said. “We will bring an end to it.” According to Reuters, Europe’s most divisive energy project, Nord Stream 2 is designed by Russian energy giant Gazprom to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia straight to Germany, bypassing traditional transit nation Ukraine.
The United States and Germany have sought to present a united front against potential Russian military aggression in Ukraine, with Biden declaring the two in “lockstep” despite questions over Berlin’s commitment to scuttle the important energy pipeline.
