Ahead of Biden meeting on Ukraine
Scholz: “All options on the table”
2/7/2022 7:23 am
Chancellor Scholz’s inaugural visit to the United States has one main theme: the smoldering Ukraine conflict. Before his meeting with US President Biden, Scholz stated that Germany was ready to take “all necessary steps” should there be Russian aggression. But he doesn’t explain exactly which ones.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in the USA for his inaugural visit. The central topic will be the Ukraine crisis. Immediately before his visit to the White House in Washington, the SPD politician emphasized Germany’s readiness for drastic sanctions against Russia.
Together with its allies, Germany is ready to take “all necessary steps” if necessary, Scholz told the Washington Post when asked about sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline. Putin knows that he supports aggression against Ukraine had to pay a very high price. “All options are on the table”. However, he did not want to elaborate on this. “Strategic ambiguity” is necessary so that Russia cannot calculate exactly what price it would have to pay if it were to invade.
In the face of public criticism of insufficient German aid during the crisis, the Chancellor referred to the extensive German aid to Ukraine and to the fact that Germany had the highest defense budget on the continent. Before his visit to the White House, the Chancellor praised US President Joe Biden’s “leadership and strength” and the direct American-Russian contacts. “These are very difficult,” he said.
Scholz also called on Iran to get back into international talks about the nuclear program. “We don’t have much time left,” he said. “We will not accept that Iran has a nuclear bomb that the country can use,” emphasized the SPD politician.
Opposition makes demands
Union foreign politicians have asked Scholz to meet US President Biden in key demands. “Scholz must make it clear that Germany is ready to contribute more to the NATO alliance, for example in Lithuania and in the equipment of the Bundeswehr,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction, Jürgen Hardt, the “world”. The CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen told the “Welt” that Scholz “can and must explain why Germany is not delivering weapons to Ukraine”. The chancellor “should not avoid stating clearly that Russian aggression means the end of Nord Stream 2 for the time being”.
Against this background, the designated FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai called for a “common and clear message” to the Russian President Vladimir Putin von Scholz. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, meanwhile told the “Welt”: “The most important message from the Chancellor will be: Doubts about Germany’s loyalty to the alliance and solidarity with Ukraine are completely unfounded,” said the SPD politician.
Differences between Berlin and Washington
In the past few weeks, differences between Berlin and Washington have become clear in the Ukraine conflict. Among other things, it is about the extent of possible sanctions against Russia in the event of an attack on Ukraine, arms deliveries to Kiev and the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
However, Scholz denied on ARD that the US government was dissatisfied with his government’s actions in the Ukraine crisis: “That’s a wrong impression that doesn’t prevail in Washington either.”
Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday morning on the US broadcaster NBC that if Russia attacks Ukraine, “Nord Stream 2 will not go ahead”. “And Russia understands that.” However, Sullivan did not want to provide any further information on the discussions on this topic with the federal government. Nord Stream 2 has already been completed but is not yet operational.
According to Western sources, Russia has gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and heavy equipment on the Ukrainian border. The West therefore fears a Russian attack on the neighboring country. Russia rejects the allegations and at the same time states that it feels threatened by NATO. Putin is demanding security guarantees from the West, including an end to NATO’s eastward expansion.
In the evening, Scholz will be received by US President Joe Biden in the White House. Following their talks, Scholz and Biden are to hold a joint press conference.