With German Chancellor Olaf Scholz standing next to him, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that, should Russia attack Ukraine, natural gas would never flow through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
“If Russia invades – that means tanks or troops crossing the border into Ukraine again – there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to that,” Biden said. “I promise that we will be able to do it.”
Biden added that he and the German Chancellor agreed that a Russian invasion would be a “gigantic mistake” with dire consequences.
Scholz was on his first visit to Washington since taking the reins of power in Germany in December, and the two leaders had just completed White House talks focused mostly on the Ukraine crisis.
Several NATO countries have suggested that Germany is not fully committed to deterring Russia aggression, prioritizing economic need over geopolitical unity in refusing to threaten Nord Stream 2 sanctions against the Kremlin or provide military hardware to Ukraine. Biden emphasized that he had no doubts about Germany as a loyal and strategic partner.
Scholz said that Germany was and would remain in lockstep with any NATO decisions on a response to Russian aggression and support for Ukraine.
The German Chancellor would not specifically refer to Nord Stream 2 by name, even when pushed by reporters, or whether Germany would certify its completion. But he unequivocally stated that Germany would remain in full agreement with whatever the US and the other NATO allies decided together.
He said that the US and Germany are fully united on how to proceed should Russian troops invade Ukraine.
“There will be no differences. We will be united. We will act together and will take all the necessary steps to do this together,“
Scholz stated.
Russia’s Nord Stream 2 project, which Germany has strongly supported as a way to guarantee cheap energy for its economy, would bring Russian natural gas to German shores and the rest of Europe from beneath the Baltic Sea. Construction of the pipeline is complete, but Germany has come under strong pressure from many of its European neighbors and the US not to certify the pipeline.
Biden did not explain what types of sanctions would effectively shut down Nord Stream 2 in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US President has previously referred to stringent financial sanctions, which most financial analysts say could include shutting off Russia from SWIFT, the international financial system by which a large majority of international financial transactions take place. If Russia was denied access to SWIFT, it would have a difficult time collecting payments for its exports, chief of which are oil and natural gas.
In defending Germany’s support for Ukraine, Scholz noted that since 2014, when Russian forces led a separatist movement in eastern Ukraine, Berlin has led diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He referred to Germany’s work within the Normandy Four format and talks through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Scholz said that Germany has provided more than $2 billion in developmental and economic support to Ukraine over the years, more than any other European country, and would continue to financially support the country.
