Germany could halt pipeline if Russia attacks Ukraine, Scholz signals

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attends a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following their meeting in Moscow, Russia January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool

BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Germany may consider halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia attacks Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz signalled on Tuesday, as pressure grew on his government to take a more hawkish stance on the Kremlin.

Scholz met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin to discuss the next steps after talks between Russia and Western states on the Kremlin's deployment of troops along Ukraine's border ended without a breakthrough last week.