"I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers," Biden announced in a written statement. "These steps are another piece of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine." The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has emerged as a key bargaining chip in the crisis with Russia over Ukraine, but Washington had previously held off on sanctioning the company due to the project's ties with ally Germany. However, after President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Russia was recognizing two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine as independent, Germany announced that the pipeline, completed but not yet in operation, would be put on ice. In his statement, Biden thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for "his close partnership and continued dedication to holding Russia accountable." Scholz said in Berlin on Tuesday that a key document required for the certification of the pipeline - measuring more than 1,200 kilometres along the bed of the Baltic Sea - would be withdrawn, essentially ending the project for now. Previously, the German leader had refused to say whether he would halt the multibillion-euro project in the event of a further escalation in Russia's war in Ukraine, despite pressure from the US and several European allies. The pipeline was expected to provide millions of households in Germany and Europe with natural gas. While German officials, including Scholz's predecessor Angela Merkel, had insisted it was a purely economic endeavour, critics slammed the project for increasing Europe's energy-dependency on Moscow. Earlier Wednesday, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck insisted that his country could do without Russian gas if necessary - even as consumers watch their energy bills surge. "As far as the short-term price increases and the burden on consumers and businesses are concerned, we will provide relief elsewhere," the Green politician said on Deutschlandfunk radio. Later, the centre-left coalition in Berlin agreed to a raft of aid measures and tax breaks for consumers struggling to make ends meet. The halt to Nord Stream 2 and looming sanctions against its operators are just part of a rush of punitive measures imposed on Moscow in response to its recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent states. Nord Stream 2 AG belongs to the Russian state-owned corporation Gazprom. Both sides of the political spectrum in Washington have long opposed Nord Stream 2, not lease because it bypasses Ukraine and therefore would rob the West's crisis-hit ally of income generated by fees for gas transit.