"Good friends can disagree,” U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the two leaders answered questions about their differences on a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline, the Voice of America reports.
Biden said the United States and Germany would be looking at what practical measures could be taken if Ukraine’s energy security was weakened.
The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, nearing completion, will allow Germany to double the amount of gas it imports from Russia. But it would bypass Ukraine, thus depriving Kyiv of lucrative transit fees.
Biden said he and Merkel agreed that “Russia must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon to coerce or threaten its neighbors.”
Following an afternoon of White House meetings between top officials of the United States and Germany, Merkel said, “We've come to different assessments as to what this project entails. But let me say very clearly: Our idea is Ukraine remains a transit country for natural gas.”
Merkel “probably aligns fairly closely to the president on their assessment of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin — both want to have some type of relationship with Russia, but it's not a partnership, and they see clearly Russia is an adversary,” said Dan Hamilton, director of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program.
