US President Joe Biden has threatened to bring an end to the crucial Germany-Russia natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 if Moscow sends Russian troops across the border with Ukraine and has promised the US is able to do that even though the pipeline is within Germany’s control.
Biden made the threat during the joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after their first official meeting in the White House on Monday.
It turned out, however, that Germany still has no clear stand on the issue since the German leader refrained from mentioning the pipeline by name when asked directly about the fate of the project Biden has threatened to block.
Noting he wouldn’t go into specifics because Russia should understand that there might be even more to come, Scholz only said Germany has the necessary sanctions ready in case of military aggression against Ukraine.
Berlin has suspended the regulators’ approval of the project in mid-November although the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has already been completed but is still awaiting the go-ahead.
The alleged ‘imminent invasion’ of Ukraine by Russia has been used as a scarecrow by Biden and other White House officials in recent weeks even though Biden himself admitted he does not know what Russian President Putin is planning and citing only troop movements in the region.
The US president has, nevertheless, promised to slap Moscow, which is continuously dismissing all reports of an imminent military conflict as fake news, with the most severe sanctions ever imposed that would have a profound impact on the Russian economy.
He also claimed the US can make up for a significant portion of gas exports lost due to Russian sanctions well aware it’s not quite true or possible since the US Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cannot make up the shortfall, as experts argue.
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