Germany is now threatening to stop Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Putin invades Ukraine. The pipeline would deliver Russian gas to both Germany and Western Europe:
NY POST – Germany’s new government suggested Tuesday that it would not hesitate to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project if Russia invades Ukraine after diplomatic talks on the tense military standoff collapsed last week.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss the next steps after the talks in Geneva and Vienna sputtered and said Berlin is willing to stop the pipeline if Russia attacks.
“It is clear that there will be a high price to pay and that everything will have to be discussed should there be a military intervention in Ukraine,” Scholz told reporters.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday and clearly stated that the pipeline built under the Baltic Sea to provide Russian gas to Germany and Western Europe was among the options to deter the Kremlin.
“We have repeatedly underlined at various levels of this government that if energy is used as a weapon that would also have a corresponding impact on this pipeline,” Baerbock told reporters as she stood alongside Lavrov.
Lavrov said it was “counterproductive” to politicize the pipeline.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Baerbock on Thursday, one day after he travels to Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The whole point of the new pipeline is to enable Russia to invade Ukraine without suffering the consequences of the Ukrainians destroying their old gas pipeline. The new pipeline neutralizes the old.
However, if Germany is serious about stopping the new pipeline, then they can put all of that in jeopardy. If they are truly serious. That’s the calculation Putin has to make if he really wants to invade Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Biden isn’t threatening Russia with anything, including military action over the potential invasion of Ukraine. Leading from behind.