“SP-2” to be: Merkel and Biden did not block the gas pipeline
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine will be completed. This follows from the results of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Washington and her meeting with US President Joe Biden, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At a joint press conference, Biden and Merkel used general phrases about concern about the situation in Ukraine, supported its territorial integrity, and the need for reforms.
“We continue to declare that Ukraine remains a transit country for natural gas, we must ensure its territorial integrity and sovereignty. We will actively interfere with Russia if Russia attempts to encroach on the sovereignty of Ukraine. Any additional projects with Russia are not intended to replace existing arrangements and agreements with Ukraine on the supply of natural gas. We want to make this absolutely clear now,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She also emphasized that there are agreements on the transit of natural gas between Ukraine and Russia, and did not rule out the introduction of sanctions if the Russian Federation abandons this agreement.
“As you know, not only Germany, but the entire European Commission participated in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. We came to an agreement and signed an agreement under which we have a contract for the supply of natural gas. And, at least, all parties expressed their commitment to the fair and full implementation of this agreement. As for sanctions over Ukraine or some other agreements, I have already said that we have such response mechanisms. We will work together with our European colleagues, but I hope that we will not have to do this,” the chancellor said.
US President Joe Biden answered evasively that the United States would “look” at Russia’s actions and threw up his hands, saying that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was built without him, so it’s too late to do anything.
“I have always expressed my views on Nord Stream 2, but by the time I became president, the pipeline was already more than 90% completed. It made no sense to make decisions without consulting the German Chancellor and deciding together how to further approach the problem, because Russia is simply blackmailing Ukraine in this regard. We have asked our staff to consider practical measures, joint measures in this direction, trying to resolve the question of whether we can strengthen the energy security of Europe in this way. Let's look at Russia's actions. We'll see, we'll see,” Biden said.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.