Edited by US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, March 3, 2023.
Washington – US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed during today's meeting at the White House that Russia must bear the consequences for the unjustified invasion of Ukraine for as long as it takes. The White House said. Before the meeting, Scholz said it was important to send a message that allies would continue to support Ukraine. The German chancellor is on a short working visit to the USA today, DPA writes.
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At the start of the meeting, Biden thanked Germany for its military and moral support to Ukraine and Scholz for his strong leadership ability demonstrated in the last year. “We're helping Ukraine meet its basic needs and keeping pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Biden said.
“The leaders discussed ongoing efforts to provide security, humanitarian, economic and political assistance to Ukraine and the importance of maintaining solidarity with the people of Ukraine at the global level,” the White House said in a statement after the two politicians' meeting. Scholz and Biden also confirmed the strong mutual relations between the US and Germany during the meeting.
Scholz's trip to the United States is strictly of a work nature, the chancellor is not even accompanied by journalists. According to The New York Times, the press department of the German chancellery announced that the unusually intimate nature of the trip abroad is exceptional and that it is a reflection of Scholz's determination to calmly solve some specific issues. After the meeting, the politicians did not even schedule a press conference.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters today that the president and the chancellor will talk in particular about what support Ukraine will need during the expected tough fighting with the Russian army in the spring and in summer. Shortly before the meeting between the two politicians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US would send Ukraine additional military aid worth $400 million (about CZK 8.8 billion).
Scholz said in a speech in the Bundestag on Thursday that helping Kiev is not only a moral obligation, but also part of Europe's security arrangement. He also called on China not to arm Russia and to use its influence in Moscow to pressure the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
According to Kirby, the United States is still watching how China decides on possible arms assistance to Russia. “We don't believe they took it off the table,” he said.
