At a moment the United States and Europe are busy mulling over what sanctions to impose on Moscow for Putin's independence recognition for Ukraine's separatist republics - on the one hand wanting Russia to feel the pain as a warning against moving further into Ukraine (beyond what the Kremlin is dubbing "peacekeeping" troops in Donetsk and Luhansk, which entered the republics overnight), and on the other wanting to avoid severe enough economic measures that would almost guarantee immediate escalation - Germany on Tuesday has announced it has halted the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

As European Union leaders prepare to sanction Moscow, Bloomberg quoted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as saying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline certification can't happen right now. He explained to reporters that he contacted the Economic Ministry to withdraw a report on the security of supply required for the certification process of pipeline to move forward. Without it, NS2 "cannot go into operation" - he told reporters.