President Biden is about to meet German chancellor Olaf Scholz amid tensions with Russia over the Ukraine-Russia dispute. The chancellor is set to arrive at White House today, Monday to talk with Biden, a key time to make negotiations and strike a deal. This is also the first-time official country delegates are meeting since the escalation of the Russian military at the Ukraine border, threatening a likely invasion.
Several countries have taken a different approach towards Russia and its military strategy towards Ukraine. Allies or otherwise, have either clearly warned Russia of extreme sanctions or retaliated by arming and giving Ukraine the weapons and resources to fight if it comes to that. The US has been among the former group so far, warning Russia about the adverse sanctions it would implement if it invades Ukraine in any way.
Amidst all this, the arrival of the German chancellor is both good and apprehensive news as talks regarding Russia and strategies to face it can go either way, because of the nature of US-Russia relationships in the past and present.
Other countries that have implemented a softer blow have not been able to bring any success to the matter either. Germany is one of those countries, allowing Russia to continue its military dominance over the border and to keep instability in the region. Germany has not sent Ukraine any troops or equipment to help them prepare for the likely military face-off. While it has also allowed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, passing through Ukraine, to Germany, to continue running amid calls to shut it until tensions were solved.
According to Biden however, all European allies need to move towards an aggressive approach to combat Russia’s own strategy. One White House official even said, “We have made our position very clear, which is that if Russia invades Ukraine in one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”
This is why the arrival of the German chancellor amidst all this seems like a plausible nod of acknowledgment to Biden that the US is taking the right approach in the matter as well. Regarding a question on Germany’s likely weak-hold in NATO, the chancellor responded to The Washington Post in an interview saying, “….it is absolutely clear that in a situation like this all options are on the table. Please understand that I will not get into any specifics, but our answer will be united and decisive.”
