Russia’s provocative moves on its neighbor’s border continued unabated. Many international leaders queued up Monday to walk a diplomatic tightrope that might mean the difference between war and uneasy peace in Ukraine. President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House. It was to bolster Western resolve in the face of Russian aggression. If Russia invades its neighbor, Biden has promised to sabotage a contentious gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, between the two countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his high-profile meeting in Moscow with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. Macron was in Russia on a mission to de-escalate tensions. Putin returned to the Kremlin after a diplomatic foray to earn China’s backing during the Winter Olympics over the weekend.
Western estimates that 100,000 Russian troops have gathered near Ukraine. They are raising fears that an invasion might be launched within days. At the same time, members of the NATO military alliance beefed up their defenses.
Biden, Scholz pledge unity on Russian-Ukraine dispute
Biden and Scholz promised a unified, tough reaction to any Russian attack on Ukraine. Thereby, including hefty penalties, and dismissed queries about the alliance’s tensions.
“If Russia makes a choice to further invade Ukraine, we are jointly ready and all of NATO is ready,” Biden said at a press conference following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders. “We’re in agreement that it cannot be business as usual if Russia further invades.”
Russia continues to ramp up its military posture along the Ukraine border. Biden and Scholz, the new German leader, met along for the first time at the White House on Monday.
“We cannot remain silent on that,” Scholz said. “We see the number of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border. And that is a serious threat to the European security..”
Nord Stream 2 will ‘end’ if Russia invades Ukraine
Should Russia invade Ukraine, Biden stated, the US would sabotage Nord Stream 2. It is a natural gas pipeline planned to transport Russian natural gas to Germany.
The pipeline has been a subject of contention between the two countries. Washington claimed that it will give Moscow substantial influence over Europe. Scholz did not pledge to end Nord Stream 2 immediately when asked about it. But he did not dispute Biden’s position.
“There will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it,” Biden said when asked about the pipeline. Biden didn’t outline what steps the U.S. would take to stop the pipeline.
“I promise you, we will be able to do it,” Biden said.
Scholz stated that if Putin decides to invade Ukraine, Germany has planned “necessary sanctions” against Russia. They will be “severe” and “far-reaching”. In the event of an assault, Scholz stated that NATO “will act together.”
Biden also rebuffed a question from the German press, which asked if the US questioned Berlin’s reliability.
“He has the complete trust of the United States. Germany is one of our most important allies in the world,” Biden said when asked if Germany’s tacit continuation of Nord Stream 2 undermines trust in the alliance. Scholz called the alliance a “very strong, unbreakable relationship.”
Macron aims for breakthrough in Moscow, Kyiv
In the same time as Biden and Scholz spoke at the White House, Putin and Macron met in Moscow for many hours.
Putin hailed his lengthy meeting with Macron in the Kremlin as a business. He said that the US and its NATO allies have ignored Moscow’s security needs.
NATO’s expansion eastward to Russia’s border is seen by Russia as a violation of international security standards, and Putin has dismissed Western assurances that NATO is a defensive alliance that poses no threat to Russia.
Russia has denied any plans to attack its neighbor but has demanded that the United States and its allies prevent Ukraine and other former Soviet republics from joining NATO, suspend military deployments in the region, and withdraw NATO forces from Eastern Europe. These requests are rejected by both Washington and NATO.
On Tuesday, Macron will fly to Kyiv. “Dialogue with Russia and de-escalation” is his top goal.
Macron’s main task is to ensure that things don’t deteriorate on the ground “before building confidence gestures and mechanisms”. Macron remarked in an interview with the French weekly Journal du Dimanche that Putin may use Ukraine as a tool to achieve a larger purpose.
“The geopolitical objective of Russia today is clearly not Ukraine, but to clarify the rules of cohabitation with NATO and the EU,” Macron said. Even if Ukraine’s security cannot be a bargaining chip, Macron said, “it is also legitimate for Russia to pose the question of its own security.”
France, Germany resume tandem work on Ukraine
France and Germany have previously collaborated. They were crucial in negotiating a peace settlement for eastern Ukraine seven years ago. It was to put a stop to conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed rebels that erupted in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Officials in Ukraine have termed the peace agreement difficult and divisive, but it has slowed the fighting.
Germany has been chastised for its sluggish and half-hearted response to the Ukraine crisis. But Europe’s economic juggernaut was moving on multiple fronts on Monday.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had meetings scheduled in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and is due to visit the “line of contact” with pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as Scholz prepared for his meeting with Biden.
Germany’s gesture of support comes amid rising tensions over Berlin’s unwillingness to deliver arms to Ukraine. Yet Baerbock said that “we stand — without ifs or buts — by the territorial integrity of the country and at the side of the people in Ukraine.”
Baerbock added that “together, we will react with hard and very concrete measures to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
Scholz will meet Macron and his Polish colleague Andrzej Duda on Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, demonstrating that the Franco-German diplomatic effort is far from done.
Scholz’s journey to Washington and Macron’s travel to Russia and Ukraine will allow the three leaders to compare notes.
Germany may boost troops in eastern Europe
Germany is also considering sending extra troops to Lithuania, potentially bolstering its NATO eastern flank presence. Before Scholz met with Biden, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht had discussed the prospect.
Before flying to Ukraine and Russia next week, the German leader is going to meet with the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. They are the three Baltic nations most affected by Moscow. For the past five years, Germany has led a NATO battlegroup in Lithuania.
Following Biden’s instructions to send 1,700 soldiers there amid worries of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a few dozen elite US troops and equipment were observed landing in southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border on Sunday.
Hundreds more 82nd Airborne Division infantry troops are due to arrive at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, 56 kilometers from Poland’s Ukrainian border.