The US government is losing patience with german officials who - to date - do not want to commit to a dropping of the contentious pipeline in case of a russian aggression against Ukraine. From the US viewpoint it remains to be if newly appointed foreign secretary Annalena Baerbock gets her way and if new german chancellor Olaf Scholz can preserve his independence towards the general position of his social-democratic party who supports this project, writes WELT:
Seldom has a Chancellor found himself caught between two superpowers so quickly. Not only congratulations for Olaf Scholz (SPD) came from Washington and Moscow, but also tangible pressure. The US wants to deter Russia from invading Ukraine - and, parallel to Scholz's inauguration, made it clear that they consider the federal government to be part of the problem.
"We have had intensive discussions with both the outgoing and the new German government about the issue of Nord Stream 2 in connection with a possible invasion," said US President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan. "If Vladimir Putin wants gas to flow through this pipeline, he may not want to take the risk of invading Ukraine."
The message: If Putin attacks Ukraine, Berlin must stop the German-Russian pipeline. The US is fed up with Germany's geostrategic ghost ride. Putin had tightened Russia's course against Europe over two decades - but the German chancellors stuck to the billion-dollar pipeline project.
