The State Department on Thursday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will not be used.
The controversial pipeline has become the U.S. and NATO’s biggest bargaining point in its attempts to preserve Kyiv’s sovereignty.
Reporters questioned whether Germany, which would profit from the functioning pipeline, is on the same page when it comes to countering a Russian incursion.
“We continue to have strong, clear communication with our German allies,” Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said. “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”
Her comments were in line with those made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week, but reporters continued to question the ability to enforce this threat since the pipeline has been completed.
“It is not ready to be turned on,” Nuland said. “It has not been tested, it has not been certified, it has not met the regulatory pieces that would allow it to be turned on both on the German side and the EU side.
“As Sen. Cruz likes to say, ‘It is currently a hunk of metal at the bottom of the ocean’,” she added. “No gas will flow through it until those things happen.”
Earlier this month it was suggested that sanctioning the pipeline to circumvent Russian aggression in Eastern Europe was an unpopular solution in Germany.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz countered these reports and said he would ensure the newly instated government would abide by the July agreement reached by President Biden and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The controversial pipeline would funnel gas from Russia through Germany under the Baltic Sea — bypassing an existing pipeline that runs into Ukraine.
“We are working on a strong package of sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday.
“As the president said earlier this week, we are unified,” Nuland told reporters Thursday. “If Moscow rejects our offer of dialogue, costs must be swift and severe.”
Relations between the U.S., NATO, and Russia remain tense, and the Kremlin has yet to dismantle its 100,000-troop presence amassed along Ukraine’s border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded guarantees from the west that NATO will not be allowed to expand into Kyiv.
The U.S. delivered a response to Putin this week, though the details of the proposed negotiations remain ambiguous.
The State Department told reporters Thursday that the Kremlin has said Putin will need “a little time” to study the response.
“From where we’re standing, the ball is in their court,” Nuland said.
