Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky informed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday that Russia was using the Nord Stream 2 gas project as a “geopolitical weapon.”
Germany’s relations with Washington and Kyiv have become increasingly strained as a result of the controversial energy route that bypasses Ukraine.
“We have certain disagreements in our assessments” of the Russia-Germany energy link, Zelensky said, after talks with Scholz in Kyiv.
“We clearly understand that it is a geopolitical weapon.”
The pipeline, which runs beneath the Baltic Sea, has been finished by Russia, but German officials have yet to sanction its use.
Should Russia invade Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has warned that he will find a way to “put an end” to the initiative.
Scholz added that “no one should doubt the determination and preparedness” of Berlin to punish Russia if it assaults its neighbor, without specifying Nord Stream 2.
“We’ll act then,” Scholz said, “and it’ll be far-reaching actions that will have a substantial influence on Russia’s economic development potential.”
