Berlin, Germany — The United States and Germany struggled Wednesday to resolve a major dispute over a Russian gas pipeline, even as the Biden administration seeks to improve relations with Western Europe that had been strained during Donald Trump’s presidency.
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his German counterpart Heiko Maas met in
Berlin and extolled the depth and strength of U.S.-German relations, but there
was no sign of progress in talks to overcome the impasse over the Nord Stream 2
pipeline. And neither Blinken nor Maas could offer a timetable for a possible
resolution.
“We
don’t always agree and one of those areas of disagreement is the Nord Stream 2
gas pipeline, which we continue to believe is a threat to European energy
security,” Blinken said. “Germany has a different perspective and that happens
from time to time. We’ll handle our disagreements while pressing ahead on the
many areas where we are working very closely together.”
In
addition to increasing the continent’s reliance on Russian gas, the U.S.
believes the pipeline will become a tool for Russia to exert political pressure
on vulnerable Eastern and Central European nations. As such, the project
continues to be a significant irritant in U.S.-German ties despite steps by the
Biden administration to cool the dispute.
Speaking
alongside Blinken at a joint news conference, Maas said Germany was well aware
of the U.S. concerns and trying to address them.
“We are
engaging in these talks,” he said. “We are aware of the expectations from
Washington and it is of the utmost importance.”
Maas
said that Germany is also speaking with Ukraine and other countries bypassed by
the pipeline with an eye toward guaranteeing them an alternative energy supply.
“There
is a whole host of ways and means and approaches that we are discussing but we
are not discussing them in public,” Maas said.
Ideally,
he added, a resolution could be reached by the time outgoing German Chancellor
Angela Merkel visits Biden in Washington next month. But, Maas stressed that
timing was aspirational only.
Blinken
met later with Merkel and neither rmentioned the pipeline in brief welcoming
remarks.
Despite
U.S. opposition and strident objections from Poland and Ukraine, Merkel
strongly favors the project, which has been one of Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s key initiatives to increase Russia’s energy revenue.
The
pipeline also faces strong bipartisan opposition in the U.S. Congress, where
both Republican and Democratic lawmakers harshly criticized the administration
for waiving sanctions against the German firm constructing it, the company’s
German CEO and several other executives in May. Critics saw those sanctions as
a last-ditch effort to prevent completion of the pipeline that is now more than
95% constructed.
In
waiving the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and the executives, the White
House rejected recommendations from the State Department and other agencies in
favor of imposing the penalties, according to officials and congressional
aides. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan argued that the
sanctions would do more harm than good in terms of repairing ties with Germany,
they said.
Blinken
is in Germany on his second visit to Europe in seven days, having just
accompanied President Joe Biden to leaders’ summits in Britain and Belgium. In
his meeting with Maas, Blinken emphasized the “America is back” message that
Biden also delivered last week.
Maas
welcomed the commitment that Blinken is also expected to pass on to Merkel in a
later meeting. He said Biden’s visit, coupled by Blinken’s return to Europe so
quickly, “underlined impressively that America is back: Back on the
multilateral and international stage and we’re very pleased by this.”
Merkel
echoed that sentiment in her comments before meeting Blinken, saying Germany
was “delighted” with Biden’s pronouncement. “Given all the controversies in the
world I think it’s fair to say we need to keep channels of dialogue open,” she
said.
Biden
administration officials insist that there are still ways to mitigate the
pipeline’s impact. They say even after the project is physically completed
there are still permits, insurance and testing hurdles it must clear before
becoming operational. Some officials believe that could delay its opening by
nine to 12 months..
After
Germany, Blinken will visit France and Italy as part of his weeklong tour, his
first trips to all three nations as secretary of state.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-germany-europe-business-a12e1707d3d947fd64851e18b09e3a07