When asked to When pressed for details on how he would keep that promise given that the pipeline is not under U.S. control, Biden stated: “I promise you, we will be able to do it.” Scholz hedged, saying only that Germany was “acting together” with its allies and promising “very, very harsh” steps against Russia if it invades Ukraine. Three weeks earlier, Undersecretary Victoria Nuland delivered the same message at a State Department briefing. “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”