Germany’s leader said a compromise gas pipeline deal is “good for Ukraine.”

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that a compromise deal that will allow the completion of a Russian gas pipeline to Europe without the imposition of further U.S. sanctions is “good for Ukraine.”

The United States and Germany announced the deal Wednesday.

The countries committed to countering any Russian attempt to use the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a political weapon.

They also agreed to support Ukraine and Poland, both of which are bypassed by the project and fear Russia’s intentions, by funding alternative energy and development projects.

The Nord Stream 2 project has posed a foreign policy problem for the Biden administration. U.S. officials from both parties have feared it would give Russia too much power over European gas supplies. But the pipeline is almost complete, and the U.S. has been determined to rebuild ties with Germany damaged during the Trump administration.

Poland and Ukraine expressed displeasure over the decision to allow the pipeline’s completion and said efforts to reduce the Russian security threat were insufficient.

Merkel noted that Germany now has “a whole lot of work” to do, particularly in trying to secure an extension to a deal on the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine beyond 2024, in supporting the transformation of Ukraine’s energy supply, and in engineering “reverse flow” from European gas supply systems to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government criticized the deal.

“We have many questions about how the U.s.-german agreement could reduce security risks for Ukraine and the countries of Central Europe caused by the launch of Nord Stream 2,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.