Germany's leader Olaf Scholz said Germany will "work together" with the U.S. to put pressure on Russia in case of an invasion of Ukraine. Scholz confirmed Germany would be willing to take "all the necessary steps" to dissuade Russia from military action.  

"We will be united, we will act together, and we will take all the necessary steps," Scholz told a joint press conference after meeting U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. However, Scholz did not go as far as Biden, who named the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as a tool to exert power over Russia.  

"If Russia invades... then there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it," Biden announced. 

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Nord Stream 2 is the second natural gas line between Russia and Germany, and although it was completed in 2021, it is yet to gain the regulatory approval in Germany needed to begin moving gas.  

Germany is the largest consumer of gas in Europe, with half its imports coming from Russia according to Eurostat, so the question of sanctions on the capacity-building project is a high-pressure one for the EU's largest economy.  

And it's showing in domestic polls, where Scholz's popularity among Germans has fallen 17 percent in recent weeks.  

Biden's strong words come after France's President Macron visited Russia and met with Putin on Monday. Macron said it is "now possible" to move forward on Russia-Ukraine negotiations, and added that there are "concrete, practical solutions" to end the increasing tensions in eastern Europe. 

Following Biden's comments on the gas pipeline, France's Foreign Minister Bruno Le Maire said the U.S. should not "drag" Europe into a situation it does not want, especially when considering Russia was the largest supplier of natural gas to the EU both in 2020 and the first semester of 2021. "The Americans will not have to bear the same consequences of a conflict in Ukraine as the Europeans, especially in terms of energy prices," he said. 

"Let us not be dragged by the Americans to a position that is not that of the Europeans," Le Maire asked, over concerns U.S. heavy-handed diplomacy could endanger EU member states' economies.