GERMANY - Angela Merkel is bracing for a bitter showdown with Joe Biden over a project with Russia as the US President is set to meet Vladimir Putin face-to-face this month. The US-Russia crisis has reached a crucial juncture with the leaders of each nation due to meet in a few weeks. The White House hopes the face-to-face meeting will bring some predictability and stability to the fraught relationship between the countries after tensions have escalated amid his first months in office. But amid the soured relationship between Moscow and Washington, the German Chancellor has sent aides for emergency talks with the US President about the future of the Nord Stream 2 project. Geopolitical experts believe the move was made as a way to shore up relations between the US and Germany, rather than the US and Russia. The Nord Stream 2 is a new export gas pipeline running from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea. This month, Mr Biden and Mr Putin will meet in Switzerland face-to-face.