Germany said on Tuesday that if Russia invades Ukraine, it could stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project from Russia. Western countries have backed Ukraine because of a Russian troop buildup that has raised fears of war. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Ukraine on Wednesday, then go to Berlin to talk about “joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine” with German, British, and French officials.
This comes after talks with Russia broke down last week. Britain said this week that it had started giving Ukraine anti-tank weapons. Canada’s foreign minister went to Ukraine, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met with people in Moscow and Kyiv to try to calm things down.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin might stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that brings gas to Germany if Moscow attacks its neighbor.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg asked Scholz about the pipeline after the two had met. Scholz said it was clear that there would be a lot of money spent and that everything would have to be talked about, if Ukraine was invaded. Previously, Scholz said that in the event of a Russian attack, everything would be on the table.
People are worried about what will happen. This has made the Russian rouble go down against the U.S. dollar as a result. Even though the West is rallying behind Ukraine, the country that was once part of the Soviet Union is not a member of NATO and has no treaty obligations to defend it. to Ukraine to fight against Russian troops
This comes after last week’s talks with Russia didn’t lead to any progress. Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday, the U.S. says.
President Putin has the power to de-escalate this crisis so that the United States and Russia can have a relationship that isn’t based on hostility or crisis, an official said, per the AP. Blinken talked to Lavrov on Tuesday and asked him not to escalate things. On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that Ottawa would make a decision about giving Ukraine military equipment at the right time.
