Germany warns Nord Stream won't operate if Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate

Germany has said the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia will not be allowed to operate in the event of any new "escalation" in Ukraine, under an agreement between Berlin and Washington.

"In the event of further escalation this gas pipeline could not come into service," Germany's new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told German television station ZDF, clarifying earlier threats made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Baerbock was speaking after the weekend G7 meeting on tensions with Russia, and ahead of a sit-down with her European partners on Monday.

Scholz had earlier said during a visit to Poland that: "It would be a serious mistake to believe that violating the borders of a European country would remain without consequences."

Criticism of the pipeline 

The pipeline, which has been backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the one hand and by Scholz's predecessor Angela Merkel on the other in recent years, has been heavily criticised by United States and its allies.

The United States and several Eastern European countries are worried that Europe is too dependent on Putin's Russia.

Moreover, Ukraine –– until now one of the major transit countries for Russian gas to Europe, as well as fighting Russian-backed separatist forces inside its own borders –– fears that it will be economically and diplomatically weakened by the project, which bypasses its territory.

Scholz said that Germany would "do anything" to ensure that Ukraine remains a transit country for Russian gas exports to Europe.

The 1,200-kilometre pipeline, which runs underwater from Russia's Baltic coast to northeastern Germany, was completed in September.

However, Baerbock pointed out that the pipeline "cannot be authorised for the time being anyway because it does not meet the rules of European energy legislation".