The heads of German and U.S. diplomatic agencies have pledged their joint support for Ukraine amid fears of a new Russian invasion.
According to dpa, they said this during the first visit of the foreign ministry in the new German government, Annalena Berbock, to Washington.
It is noted that Berbock's visit to Washington largely focused on Europe's strained relations with Russia over its maneuvers near the border with Ukraine and demands for "security guarantees."
Berbock stressed that Russia's actions would have a concrete price, and that new violations of Ukraine's sovereignty would have "grave consequences" for Russia. She also stressed that "there should be no security decisions in Europe without Europe."
"With respect to Russia, both Germany and the United States see Russia's actions against Ukraine as an immediate and urgent threat to peace and stability in Europe," said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
He reiterated Washington's message of tough economic sanctions in case of military escalation and noted that this position is not only from Germany and the US, but is the common position of many other allies and partners.
At the same time, the U.S. and German positions on supplying weapons to Ukraine against the backdrop of the Russian threat differ. Berbock noted that the German government would not consider such exports and stressed that Germany has provided support in other forms, such as for the construction of a military hospital.
The U.S. secretary of state said the United States would continue to supply Ukraine with defense weapons and would increase such support in the event of a potential Russian invasion.
He also touched on the issue of Nord Stream 2, stressing that it is difficult to imagine the launch of the controversial pipeline if Russian aggression against Ukraine intensifies.
Let's remind, next week a series of interactions between Russia and Western countries in different formats is planned. On January 10, the negotiation teams of the US and Russia will meet, on January 12, there will be the talks between the representatives of NATO and Russia and on January 13, there will be the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
