Zürcher Nachrichten - US, Germany step up pipeline warnings if Russia invades Ukraine

EUR -
AED 3.846458
AFN 71.211176
ALL 97.412843
AMD 406.811894
ANG 1.887241
AOA 956.640935
ARS 1051.428592
AUD 1.608171
AWG 1.887622
AZN 1.787721
BAM 1.94682
BBD 2.114156
BDT 125.138011
BGN 1.955509
BHD 0.394704
BIF 3034.333258
BMD 1.047225
BND 1.407209
BOB 7.235625
BRL 6.090347
BSD 1.047075
BTN 88.4754
BWP 14.296058
BYN 3.427092
BYR 20525.602023
BZD 2.110863
CAD 1.463847
CDF 3005.534618
CHF 0.928583
CLF 0.03695
CLP 1019.567969
CNY 7.576459
CNH 7.597437
COP 4597.630131
CRC 532.296452
CUC 1.047225
CUP 27.751452
CVE 110.613091
CZK 25.354142
DJF 186.112546
DKK 7.458821
DOP 63.25565
DZD 139.901282
EGP 52.012714
ERN 15.708369
ETB 129.23088
FJD 2.379611
FKP 0.826592
GBP 0.831973
GEL 2.853676
GGP 0.826592
GHS 16.598349
GIP 0.826592
GMD 74.352935
GNF 9037.548191
GTQ 8.083713
GYD 219.089433
HKD 8.150638
HNL 26.363899
HRK 7.470124
HTG 137.485836
HUF 411.088281
IDR 16675.428446
ILS 3.890063
IMP 0.826592
INR 88.480582
IQD 1372.387829
IRR 44093.391567
ISK 146.108348
JEP 0.826592
JMD 166.302915
JOD 0.742584
JPY 161.458939
KES 135.614106
KGS 90.595555
KHR 4241.259434
KMF 491.829597
KPW 942.501737
KRW 1466.554465
KWD 0.322158
KYD 0.872675
KZT 519.294876
LAK 22997.052059
LBP 93778.962407
LKR 304.684618
LRD 188.762185
LSL 18.965252
LTL 3.092182
LVL 0.633456
LYD 5.115689
MAD 10.486854
MDL 19.069043
MGA 4891.586326
MKD 61.525564
MMK 3401.344628
MNT 3558.469111
MOP 8.394618
MRU 41.799981
MUR 48.593488
MVR 16.179757
MWK 1817.981712
MXN 21.385321
MYR 4.675828
MZN 66.925952
NAD 18.964918
NGN 1774.186923
NIO 38.527419
NOK 11.597222
NPR 141.561038
NZD 1.78822
OMR 0.403194
PAB 1.04717
PEN 3.974207
PGK 4.216653
PHP 61.815578
PKR 291.021899
PLN 4.344987
PYG 8218.776313
QAR 3.812683
RON 4.977038
RSD 116.989628
RUB 106.083365
RWF 1435.744917
SAR 3.931627
SBD 8.750118
SCR 14.091129
SDG 629.903184
SEK 11.589368
SGD 1.409667
SHP 0.826592
SLE 23.651533
SLL 21959.781063
SOS 598.485238
SRD 37.077012
STD 21675.434737
SVC 9.162736
SYP 2631.183058
SZL 18.975788
THB 36.383713
TJS 11.152657
TMT 3.675758
TND 3.301902
TOP 2.452702
TRY 36.169354
TTD 7.108213
TWD 34.046633
TZS 2777.615603
UAH 43.232448
UGX 3869.006119
USD 1.047225
UYU 44.622895
UZS 13488.252609
VES 48.454165
VND 26623.067216
VUV 124.328608
WST 2.923423
XAF 652.945238
XAG 0.034027
XAU 0.000392
XCD 2.830177
XDR 0.798815
XOF 651.373441
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.711912
ZAR 18.966175
ZMK 9426.275251
ZMW 28.876803
ZWL 337.205892
  • RBGPF

    -0.5000

    59.69

    -0.84%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

US, Germany step up pipeline warnings if Russia invades Ukraine
US, Germany step up pipeline warnings if Russia invades Ukraine

US, Germany step up pipeline warnings if Russia invades Ukraine

The United States and Germany on Thursday warned Russia that a major gas pipeline was at stake if it invades Ukraine as Washington voiced hope for a diplomatic way out despite frigid statements from Moscow.

Text size:

A day after the United States and its allies formally responded to security demands issued by Russia, top officials in Moscow said their chief concerns were not addressed but notably did not rule out new talks.

The United States has warned Russia of swift and severe consequences if it invades Ukraine after Moscow amassed tens of thousands of troops on the border with its Western-leaning neighbor.

Following worries in the West about divisions within Europe, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told parliament that her government was "working on a strong package of sanctions" alongside allies that would include Nord Stream 2.

The pipeline, which Germany has defiantly built despite criticism by the United States and Eastern Europeans, will more than double supplies of Russian natural gas to Europe's largest economy.

In Washington, a top official voiced confidence that an invasion would stop Germany from activating the multibillion-dollar project, which was completed in September but still requires testing and regulatory approval.

"If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," said Victoria Nuland, the under secretary of state for political affairs.

"I think the statements coming out of Berlin even today are very, very strong," she told reporters.

The White House also announced that Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will visit on February 7 to discuss Russia's "aggression against Ukraine" with President Joe Biden.

Biden also spoke Thursday by telephone with Volodymyr Zelensky, whose government a day earlier engaged in marathon talks in Paris with Russia in a separate bid to decrease tensions.

Zelensky tweeted afterward that he and Biden discussed efforts at de-escalation and joint actions for the future, as well as potential US financial support for Ukraine following hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid.

NATO has put 8,500 troops on standby over the Ukraine crisis, in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

- 'Only one decider' -

Russia denies any plans to invade but last month demanded wide-ranging security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join the US-led NATO military alliance.

Washington on Wednesday delivered a reply in coordination with NATO allies, saying that Ukraine had the right to determine its own allies but offering Russia talks on missile placements and other mutual concerns.

In its first reaction to the reply, the Kremlin was unimpressed but cautious.

"It cannot be said that our views were taken into account," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Let's not rush into assessments; it takes time to analyze," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow's chief concern -- the potential for Ukraine to join NATO -- had been ignored, but that it would be possible to move forward on other issues.

"There is a response which gives hope for the start of a serious conversation on secondary questions," Lavrov said.

Nuland quipped that the most important takeaway from the Russian response was that Putin had the documents.

"There's only one decider in Moscow and that is President Putin," Nuland said.

"We hope he will see here a real opportunity for a legacy of security and arms control rather than a legacy of war," she said.

"The ball is in their court."

- 'Ukraine in the middle' -

On the streets of Kyiv, there were concerns that Ukraine had been forgotten amid the high-level talks between Moscow, NATO and Washington.

"The United States is provoking Russia and Russia is provoking the United States. And somewhere in the middle is Ukraine," said Dmytro Sylenko, a 23-year-old businessman.

"Honestly, I don't care who is provoking whom, what matters to me is that there is peace. I don't care about the rest," he told AFP.

Russia, which has a fraught historical relationship with Ukraine, has fuelled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

That year Russia also seized Crimea after the overthrow of a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.

In the separate bid to defuse tensions, senior Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to meet again in two weeks in Berlin after eight hours of talks in Paris on Wednesday.

Zelensky's office in a statement praised the "constructive nature" of the meeting and the agreement to meet again.

France said after the so-called Normandy Format talks that the envoys committed to a fragile July 2020 ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists.

Adding to tensions, a 21-year-old Ukrainian national guard conscript opened fire at an aerospace factory on Thursday, killing five people, although there was no indication of a link to the standoff with Russia.

burs-sct/ec

O.Krasniqi--NZN