German Chancellor: Germany will do everything in its power to prevent the restart of the Nord Stream 2
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz affirmed on Wednesday that Germany will do everything in its power to ensure that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which delivers Russian natural gas to Europe, doesn’t resume operation.
“We’ll continue to intensify pressure on Russia,” Merz said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.
“We’ll do everything we can in this context to ensure that Nord Stream 2 never comes online again,” he added.
The visit to Berlin comes days after Russia launched some of the most violent missile and drone attacks of the conflict, while US President Donald Trump has increasingly expressed his displeasure with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Merz, who took office on May 6, pledged to continue strong support for Ukraine in cooperation with Paris, London, and Warsaw.
He also pushed for increased German defense spending with the goal of establishing the strongest conventional army in Europe, a plan that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as very worrying on Wednesday.
Upon taking over from his center-left predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Merz shifted Berlin’s tone and sharply criticized Putin, who “views offers for talks as a sign of weakness,” the German chancellor said this week.
Scholz also strongly supported Kyiv but refrained from sending long-range Taurus missiles there, fearing this would escalate tensions with Russia.
Merz has previously stated that he favors the delivery of Taurus missiles, but his new government has emphasized that it will no longer disclose details of the weapons its sending to Ukraine, preferring a policy of strategic ambiguity.
