Merkel, Macron to Put Aside Differences on Russian Gas Pipeline Bloomberg 2/5/2021 Arne Delfs, Rudy Ruitenberg and Raymond Colitt (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron sought to iron out differences over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline ahead of talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on the controversial Russian project. The two leaders spoke “very openly” about the disputed gas pipeline, Merkel said on Friday after a video conference with her French counterpart. “On this project, which is almost finished, nothing will be announced without close Franco-German coordination,” Macron said. “What we want is to continue to work together on a more sovereign European energy strategy.”