German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Washington on Feb. 7, his first major trip abroad since taking office, for talks with United States President Joe Biden.
Russia’s military escalation on Ukraine’s borders will take center stage in their discussions. Mr. Scholz, who replaced long-time German Chancellor Angela Merkel in December, has kept a low profile as the Ukraine crisis has developed.
He has irritated leaders of Western countries which are sending defensive military hardware to Ukraine – such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France – by refusing to also send arms and offering Ukraine 5,000 combat helmets instead.
His main objective during talks in Washington will be to:
“Show the world that Berlin is committed to the Western alliance,“
the New York Times reported.
Scholz, who was part of the Merkel coalition government, belongs to the Social Democratic Party, which has a long history of reaching out to Moscow in cooperation.
During the Cold War, legendary German Chancellor Willy Brandt initiated a dialogue with the Soviet Union that resulted in a policy of rapprochement called “Ostpolitik.”
More recently, former German chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, who has long held a paid position as a consultant to Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, and a few days ago was named to Gazprom’s executive board, accused Ukraine of provoking war.
Scholz publicly distanced himself from Schroder’s remark last week, when he told a German broadcast outlet, “There is only one chancellor, and that is me.”
A central challenge that Scholz faces is how to address Germany's energy needs, most supplied by Russia. The West is calling to freeze final development of Nord Stream 2, the Russian natural gas pipeline that runs beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany’s coast, whose construction Berlin has supported.
The U.S. is pressuring the Germans not to provide final approval for Nord Stream 2 and is considering strong sanctions against those companies building it should Russia attack Ukraine.
This will be Scholz’s first trip to Washington and the beginning of a tour of several European capitals. Following his meeting with Biden, he will travel to Paris, Warsaw, and the Baltic country capitals for official talks.
Next week he is scheduled to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before going to Moscow for talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
