WASHINGTON—U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to disagree on Thursday about a Russian pipeline project that Washington opposes, while vowing to stand together against aggression from Moscow and anti-democratic action from Beijing. At what is likely to be the German leader’s final visit to the White House before she retires from politics, Biden praised Merkel’s “exemplary life of groundbreaking service to Germany and … to the world”. “I value the friendship,” Merkel said in the Oval Office, mentioning America’s role in building a free and democratic Germany after World War Two. Merkel is the first European leader to visit Biden at the White House since his inauguration in January. Despite the cordiality, some disagreements were apparent. Biden reiterated his concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany; the United States fears Moscow will use it as a …