Washington Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s inaugural visit to Washington only lasted eight hours, but in that short time there was a lot for the Green politician to discuss. Immediately after landing in the US capital, she drove to the US State Department to meet her colleague Antony Blinken.
The focus was on Russia’s aggressive behavior in the Ukraine crisis. Both top politicians demonstrated solidarity with Russia.
However, it quickly became clear that the transatlantic tensions were not resolved, particularly in the conflict over Nord Stream 2. US Secretary of State Blinken proactively addressed the dispute over Nord Stream 2 at a joint press conference. He showed that the US is keeping the pressure on Germany increased.
Baerbock also addressed differences within the Ampel government. The German minister emphasized in Washington: “Nord Stream 2 has geopolitical implications”. A clear pointer against Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who sees the project as a purely economic one. Baerbock’s Greens, on the other hand, are harsh critics of the pipeline.
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The minister visited the US capital on Wednesday as the first cabinet member of the Ampel coalition. This gave her the opportunity to set the tone for the new federal government abroad. But the journey took place in a complicated mixture.
The fact is that no gas is currently flowing through Nord Stream 2, said Blinken. “And if Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, it will certainly be very difficult to imagine that gas will flow through the pipeline in the future.”
The Green politician traveled to Washington for the first time as Federal Foreign Minister.
(Photo: Reuters)
Blinken thus formulated a kind of exit scenario for the eleven billion euro project to which the federal government is still officially sticking. Baerbock, on the other hand, remained vague when asked by a reporter. “It’s a very difficult situation,” she said. “We are working every hour, every minute to avoid an escalation,” she said, referring to Russia’s provocations against Ukraine. A journalist’s question as to whether an invasion by Russia would mean the end of Nord Stream 2 left her unanswered.
Swipe at Olaf Scholz
The gas pipeline was completed in September and is waiting for final certification by the Federal Network Agency. In the summer, US President Joe Biden decided to suspend sanctions against Germany in connection with Nord Stream 2. The President and then Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded an agreement that, among other things, aims to strengthen Ukraine’s energy supply. This should make the transit country less dependent on Russia.
However, Russia has in the meantime created facts, Moscow is massively arming itself on the Ukrainian eastern border. The energy crisis in Europe has also alarmed the USA.
Washington is increasingly dissatisfied with the fact that Russia can continue to provoke in an uncontrolled manner and is referring to the joint agreement from the summer: Russia must fear “consequences” if it uses energy as a weapon “or commits further aggressive acts against Ukraine”, they say in this. Nord Stream 2 is explicitly listed as an instrument that could be “abused” by Moscow. Should this happen, “Germany must become active at the national level”.
In practice, however, it is unclear whether Nord Stream 2 would really be stopped as a last resort – as the US would like it to be, and as the Greens called for it in the election campaign. In Washington, Baerbock tried to appear diplomatically, but at the same time she clearly distinguished herself from Prime Minister Scholz.
There are threats of sanctions against Germany
Baerbock’s words are likely to be received with approval in the Biden government. Because they leave open the possibility that Germany could rethink should the situation on the Ukrainian border escalate. The US government recently urged Berlin to openly threaten to stop the pipeline – in order to put Russian President Vladimir Putin under pressure.
The former head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, explained the calculation behind it on Wednesday. “There is leverage,” he told CNBC. “Russia definitely has an interest in continuing its gas and oil revenue stream. We have to deal with it carefully but wisely. “
For the first time in Washington, Baerbock was open to this variant on the big stage. With the pipeline, Germany has “a means at hand”, emphasized the minister, and she sees it in a similar way to her counterpart Blinken.
Germany may soon be forced to act. US President Biden has so far stuck to the fact that he does not want to sanction an important partner like Germany. But he is under immense political pressure. As early as next week, the US Senate intends to vote in Congress on possible new sanctions against Nord Stream 2.
On Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans categorically oppose Nord Stream 2. The major project is one of the few consensus topics that connects the ruling party and the opposition. A group of Republican Senators wants to force Biden to sanction the pipeline – comprehensively, retroactively and also against Germany.
Talks with Russia are entering the decisive phase
For the moment, both sides are trying to ensure that the dispute does not interfere with joint efforts to develop a strategy for Russia. Blinken called the tense situation on the eastern border of Ukraine an “immediate and urgent challenge”. The conflict with Russia, which has around 100,000 soldiers stationed in the region, is “not just about Ukraine, but about international rules. A country cannot simply threaten another country’s border. We won’t allow that, ”said Blinken. Both Germany and the USA are “united and steadfast in their stance”.
Baerbock saw the solution to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis “in a decisive phase,” she stressed, just as the USA was keeping Germany’s door open to diplomacy.
Together with the European Union, the USA has prepared severe sanctions. However, despite a crisis phone call between Biden and Putin, Moscow has so far made little effort to defuse the situation.
In 2014, Russia’s president had Crimea annexed.
(Photo: dpa)
It is also questionable whether threats of sanctions can even induce Putin to rethink. Existing sanctions have not changed the fact that Russia has been occupying Crimea in violation of international law since 2014. Most recently, Putin demanded that Ukraine should never join NATO and that the Western military alliance should stop all activities in Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
In the coming days, all mediation efforts will be ramped up: a Russian-American meeting is planned in Geneva on Monday. Talks will also take place next week within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), followed by a Russia-NATO meeting on January 12 and a larger conference with Moscow, Washington and EU countries. The EU’s foreign affairs representative, Josep Borrell, also went on a three-day visit to Ukraine.
More: Biden wants to mediate in the Ukraine conflict – but Putin remains unpredictable