The German magazine “Der Spiegel” reported on Friday that Scholz had rejected a last-minute invitation to meet with Baiden to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.
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“I can tell you that the news that the Chancellor has already rejected President Biden’s last-minute invitation is inaccurate,” a spokesman for Scholz told AFP.
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“This material is completely untrue, it has been invented, and the president has already had a very good conversation with the chancellor, and he is looking forward to receiving him in Washington in February,” said U.S. State Secretary Anthony Blinken on his return from Europe.
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Berlin’s visit to the White House has not yet been officially confirmed.
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Germany is at the center of talks on the unprecedented sanctions the West plans to impose on Russia if it invades Ukraine.
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One of the key elements in Washington’s planned sanctions plan is Germany’s refusal to operate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany and is vital to the Kremlin’s economic ambitions.
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In his publication, Der Spiegel referred to a visit last week by William Burns, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, to the German chancellor’s office, during which, according to the source, Burns “urged Sholc to take a tougher stance against Russia.”
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For several weeks now, tensions over the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders have been easing, raising concerns about preparations for another Russian invasion in Kiev and the West.
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Russia denies allegations of an invasion of Ukraine by its troops. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow is taking a defensive stance because of fears that Kiev is getting too close to NATO.
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At a video summit on Dec. 7, Biden warned Putin that the United States would impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia if it attacked Ukraine.
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