The closest allies – this is how the United States and Germany publicly define relations between themselves, share six time zones and eight and a half hours of flight on the four-engine Airbus, which Angela Merkel used before Olaf Scholz. Having become chancellor, she did not delay so long with her first overseas visit.
However, the sixty-day pause that her successor took is due to the fact that Scholz is trying with all her might to preserve the legacy of her predecessor. Not for the sake of warm gatherings by the fireplace, because the American president so insistently invited him to the White House.
“Germany is one of the closest allies of the United States, with which we are working closely in deterring Russian aggression in Europe, responding to threats from China and promoting stability in the Western Balkans,” Biden said.
“We are the closest allies and work together intensively. This is necessary for the steps we need to take, for example, to counter Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Scholz said.
But where to direct these steps lies the main contradiction between Berlin and Washington. What is good for an American, then the German economy, consider it like death. Steps lead into the abyss. “If Russia invades, that is, tanks and troops cross the border of Ukraine again, then Nord Stream 2 will no longer be. We will put an end to it,” the American leader said.
Scholz, apparently, was required to simply repeat after Biden, but the German chancellor suddenly began to slip out of the hands of both American and domestic journalists. At some point, it all began to resemble a stupid game in which some reporters competed with others and all together against Scholz. But the Chancellor never once said the name of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“We carefully worked out all the nuances and prepared for the introduction sanctions against Russiaif it goes to military aggression against Ukraine. It is very important that we do this in advance, because in this way we let Moscow know that it will face very tough retaliatory measures. Because we and our EU partners will act as a united front,” Scholz said.
“As I said, we are acting together and no one will make individual decisions. We will act as a united front and the consequences for Russia will be very serious, they must understand this,” the chancellor added.
True, the word “front” in relation to Russia is still better for the German chancellor not to use. Associations are bad. The same Merkel, by the way, has always closely followed this. Well, in the information war, the United States and Germany are now completely in different trenches. CNN journalist Jake Taper confirmed this with his tweet.
“A source close to the Ukrainian government told me that President Zelensky canceled his meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock today because the minister refused to say that Germany would abandon the Nord Stream 2 pipeline even if Russia did not invade. and because of Germany’s refusal to provide any military assistance directly or indirectly to Kiev. Officially this was described as a planning error, but it was not – it was intentional, the source tells me.”
In general, the beginning of the interview on CNN came up by itself. However, Scholz did not succumb to Taper and Nord Stream 2 either.
– You and your foreign minister never said that if Russia invades Ukraine, then Nord Stream 2 will end. Such uncertainty infuriated Zelensky that he even refused to meet with Burbock.
– I don’t know how true it is. She is now there, went to the front line.
– She met with the Prime Minister of Ukraine instead of Zelensky.
Zelensky does not care about the problems of the German economy. He would have more weapons, but the United States has not come up with anything to compensate for gas supplies to the European market if these weapons are put into action.
From Secretary of State Blinken and the chief of European diplomacy Borrell, there is nothing intelligible about saving liquefied gas. Some vague phrases.
“We are in discussions with other governments and major producers around the world to increase their production distribution capacity to coordinate with our allies and partners within the energy sector stakeholders, including how best to share energy reserves in the event that Russia will “turn off the tap” or initiate a conflict that will disrupt gas supplies through Ukraine,” Blinken said.
Russia, of course, never thought to turn off any tap. But the United States, it seems, will break the thread. The flow of weapons to Ukraine does not dry out. According to Blinken, the total amount of deliveries has already exceeded $650 million.
Biden’s statements add to the nervousness. The President of the United States invited all Americans, not just diplomats, to leave Ukraine. As for the diplomatic mission, according to some reports, the American embassy in Kiev is already discussing the option of moving somewhere closer to the Polish border.