German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured a group of U.S. senators that the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline will not be launched if Russia invades Ukraine.
This was announced by Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, AFP reported.
McConnell said he and a group of his colleagues were given assurances during a dinner with Scholz, who made his first trip to Washington since succeeding Angela Merkel.
"The good news is that he confirmed what President Biden said yesterday: if the invasion happens, Nord Stream 2 will not work," he said.
On Monday, Scholz was much more cautious in his remarks about how far he was willing to go to punish Russia if an attack on Ukraine were to occur.
At a joint press conference with Biden, the chancellor said they were "absolutely united" on sanctions against Russia, adding that "we will take the same steps, and they will be very, very hard on Russia."
But when asked to comment directly on Nord Stream 2, he repeatedly avoided mentioning its name and refused to explicitly confirm that he would support eliminating the infrastructure.
On the other hand, Biden explicitly promised to close the pipeline if Moscow launched an invasion of Ukraine.
