BLINKEN WARNS NORD STREAM 2 COULD BE RUSSIA'S WEAPON VS UKRAINE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Russia could use energy as a lever of power against Ukraine in the dispute about the planned Nord Stream 2 German-Russian gas pipeline, Michael Fischer and Michel Winde reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

"Our goal remains to ensure that Russia cannot use energy as [a] coercive tool, as a weapon against Ukraine, or anyone else in Europe," Blinken said on Wednesday after meeting Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. It is Blinken's inaugural visit to Germany as secretary of state.

"We continue to believe that the pipeline is ultimately a Russian geopolitical project that threatens European energy security and potentially undermines the security of Ukraine and other countries in the region," he said.

Referring to the disagreement on this point between Washington and Berlin, Blinken stressed: "Germany has a different perspective. And that happens from time to time among friends."

Maas said that the aim was to reach results "that can also be supported in Washington."

There are a number of possibilities and approaches that are being discussed, he said.

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