Biden says Germany is marching ‘in lockstep’ with Washington — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

Welcoming Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz to his first official go to to the White Home, US President Joe Biden on Monday declared that Washington and Berlin are working carefully collectively on quite a lot of world points, such because the Ukraine disaster.

“To state the apparent: Germany is one in all America’s closest allies. We’re working in lockstep to additional deter Russian aggression in Europe, and tackle the challenges posed by China, and promote stability within the Western Balkans,” Biden mentioned, as the 2 leaders spoke to the press with the White Home fire crackling behind them.

Biden didn’t make clear what “aggression” he was referring to, or supply any proof thereof. He and Scholz can even talk about the Covid-19 pandemic, local weather change and different points, Biden mentioned.

That is Scholz’s first state go to to the US since he was sworn in as chancellor. He met Biden in individual final October on the G20 summit, when he was nonetheless Germany’s finance minister.

Biden’s declare that he’s working “in lockstep” with Germany in opposition to Russia comes after stories that Berlin had barred fellow NATO member Estonia from promoting German weapons to Ukraine. Flight radars additionally confirmed British deliveries of weapons and gear to Kiev routing round German airspace, although no official purpose was ever given.

The US has claimed for over three months {that a} Russian “invasion” of Ukraine was impending, regardless of Moscow dismissing the accusation as “pretend information” and even the federal government in Kiev saying there isn’t a have to panic.

On Monday, Berlin mentioned that it was sending 350 German troopers to Lithuania, describing the deployment as Germany’s “contribution to NATO’s japanese flank and sending a transparent sign of dedication to our alliance companions.”

As Biden and Scholz met in Washington, French President Emmanuel Macron was in Moscow for a gathering along with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin.

Germany is a serious buyer for Russian pure fuel, and has been importing it each by way of the Nord Stream pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea and the Soviet-era pipelines operating by way of Ukraine. Nord Stream 2, a second pipeline beneath the Baltic that might double the quantity of fuel bypassing Ukraine, has been accomplished and is ready for permits by German regulators – a course of apparently being held hostage to the “invasion” drama.

Berlin has additionally been a key companion of Washington in partitioning Yugoslavia – the area Biden on Monday described with the euphemism “Western Balkans” – within the Nineteen Nineties and selling sure states created throughout that course of, whereas pressuring others, ever since.