At the meeting of the Chancellor with US President Biden on Thursday in Washington, the controversial pipeline is one of the most important topics.
Merkel is dampening expectations.
Berlin - In the ongoing dispute over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised Ukraine support - but does not expect a final solution anytime soon.
She will discuss the subject at her meeting with US President Joe Biden this Thursday, said the CDU politician on Monday on the sidelines of consultations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj in Berlin.
I don't know that “the papers are then completely finished.
I don't think so, ”she added.
"But there will be important discussions to develop such a common position."
Merkel also said that Germany had promised Ukraine to provide 1.5 million vaccine doses as a first step in the fight against the corona pandemic.
The conversation with Selenskyj was mainly about the Ukraine conflict and Nord Stream 2. For Germany, Ukraine will remain a gas transit country even if the pipeline from Russia to Germany is completed, Merkel made clear.
There are great concerns on the Ukrainian side.
"We take them seriously."
Ukraine and Russia had signed an agreement on further gas transit through Ukraine, mediated by the EU and Germany.
This will run until the end of 2024. As a government spokesman said, the contract stipulates that the parties consider extending it to 2034.
The US is extremely skeptical about Nord Stream 2, but there were signs of easing under Biden. After political talks in Washington at the end of June, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) affirmed that a solution should be found with the USA by August.
Selenskyj spoke out in favor of finding a solution to the dispute over the gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea in the so-called Normandy format together with Russia, France and Germany. His country sees its security threatened by the German-Russian project, said Selenskyj, who again demanded guarantees for the future energy supply of his country. At the same time, he spoke out in favor of including the USA in the Normandy format launched in 2014 on the energy issue. The USA could also be included in the search for a solution in a different format, said Selenskyj when asked.
Merkel said that if they were to meet again in the Normandy format, "of course the topic of energy is also an important topic for us".
However, a formal inclusion of energy issues would go beyond the scope of the Minsk Agreement for the Pacification of the Conflict in the Region.
Germany and France shared the position that Ukraine should remain an energy transit country.
Meanwhile, the EU extended its economic sanctions against Russia for another six months because of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The trade and investment restrictions are now valid until January 31 of next year, as the representation of the member states announced on Monday after a decision by the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Russia criticized the extension.
"Of course, such decisions in no way open up new perspectives for the normalization of relations between Moscow and Brussels," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In the conflict in eastern Ukraine, government troops and Russian-backed separatists have faced each other since 2014.
Actually, there is currently a ceasefire.
But he has been injured several times in the past few months.
According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed since the conflict broke out.
According to the current EU resolution, Russia can only hope that the economic sanctions will be lifted once the agreements of the so-called Minsk Peace Plan have been completely fulfilled.
dpa