London. January 21. INTERFAX - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused a personal meeting with US President Joe Biden to discuss the situation around Ukraine, The Telegraph reports.
According to the publication, Scholz declined an invitation from the White House to fly to Washington last week. As a justification, he allegedly told Biden that he had other responsibilities.
As noted, in this regard, the White House sent US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Berlin in order to convey to the German Chancellor that he should support the introduction of serious sanctions if Berlin is not going to supply weapons to Ukraine.
The Telegraph writes that by refusing to meet with the US president, Scholz contributed to the intensification of disagreements in NATO regarding Russia's response in the event of its invasion of Ukraine.
Biden said earlier this week that there are disagreements in the North Atlantic Alliance about what measures should be taken in the event of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"There are disagreements in NATO about what exactly the countries intend to do, depending on what is happening (in Russia's action plan against Ukraine - IF)," Biden said during a press conference.
According to him, such disagreements arise due to the fact that serious sanctions against Russia, including those aimed at making currency transactions, will negatively affect both the United States and the European economy. At the same time, Biden expressed confidence that if we are talking not about insignificant actions of Russia, but about a large-scale invasion, then the position of the West will be unified.