Biden, Merkel stress friendship while agreeing to disagree on pipeline
Author
Front News Georgia
U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to disagree on Thursday about a Russian pipeline project that Washington opposes, while vowing to stand together against aggression from Moscow and anti-democratic action from Beijing.
At what is likely to be the German leader’s final visit to the White House before she retires from politics, Biden praised Merkel’s “exemplary life of groundbreaking service to Germany and … to the world”.
Transatlantic ties suffered under the tenure of former President Donald Trump, and both Merkel and Biden were eager to show the relationship was on the mend during their time together.
“I value the friendship,” Merkel said in the Oval Office, mentioning America’s role in building a free and democratic Germany after World War Two. Merkel is the first European leader to visit Biden at the White House since his inauguration in January.
Despite the cordiality, some disagreements were apparent. Biden reiterated his concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany; the United States fears Moscow will use it as a cudgel against Ukraine. The $11 billion project, which is expected to be finished in September, will bypass Ukraine, potentially depriving it of transit fees.
The president reiterated that he decided against sanctioning the company behind the pipeline because the project was near completion, a decision that drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. But Biden said he and Merkel were united in their belief that Russia should not use energy as a geopolitical weapon.
“Good friends can disagree,” he said about the pipeline during a joint news conference.
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