Merkel ally dismisses US threat of pipeline sanctions The head of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party says German companies working on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia shouldn't be intimidated by a letter from U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell suggesting they could be risking sanctions

BERLIN -- The head of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party says German companies working on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia shouldn't be intimidated by a letter from U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell suggesting they could be risking sanctions.

The Trump administration has criticized the pipeline as a form of Russian control over Germany, and has said the U.S. could impose energy-related sanctions.

Germany's Bild newspaper on Sunday printed a letter from Grenell cautioning companies that working on the project "could prompt a significant risk of sanctions."

CDU head Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Monday the companies "have offered the right response, which is that they won't allow themselves to be threatened and they won't allow this type of intervention."

The U.S. Embassy says the letter "is not meant to be a threat but a clear message of U.S. policy."