美国总统乔·拜登星期一在两位领导人的关键时刻欢迎德国总理奥拉夫·舒尔茨来到白宫乌克兰问题上与俄罗斯的紧张关系持续存在。
在联合新闻发布会前，拜登在椭圆形办公室发表简短讲话时表示，随着军事力量在乌克兰边境集结，两国正在“紧密合作，进一步遏制俄罗斯在欧洲的侵略，应对中国反对的挑战，促进西巴尔干地区的稳定”。
周一是斯科尔斯第一次访问白宫，拜登说这提供了一个很好的机会来“更多地了解你个人。”
尽管拜登政府已经警告俄罗斯将面临“严重”后果如果它入侵乌克兰此外，德国经常选择更温和的回应，拒绝向乌克兰派遣军事装备或向东部侧翼部署更多部队。德国也表示不愿意关闭俄罗斯尚未运营的北溪2号天然气管道，该管道将绕过乌克兰，直接向德国输送天然气。
与此同时，拜登一直在召集欧洲盟友，与他更具侵略性的计划同步应对俄罗斯的威胁。但在周一与斯科尔斯的会晤中，两位世界领导人表达了对俄罗斯的统一态度。
在两位领导人似乎都避免提及这条管道后，在下午的新闻发布会上，在记者的反复提问下，站在德国总理旁边的拜登表示，如果俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，北溪2号不会向前推进，这是对俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京潜在经济后果的警告。
拜登在与斯科尔斯的新闻发布会上说:“如果俄罗斯入侵，这意味着坦克或军队再次越过——乌克兰边境，那么将会——不再有北溪2号。”斯科尔斯没有像拜登走得那么远，但他坚称美国和德国保持“绝对团结”
考虑到北溪2号在德国的控制之下，当被问及他将如何承诺时，拜登让步了，他说，“我们将——我向你保证——我们将能够做到。”
舒尔茨反过来表示与美国团结一致，并表示德国正在准备制裁，以防普京决定入侵。
“正如我已经说过的，我们正在一起行动，”斯科尔斯在新闻发布会上说。“我们绝对团结，我们不会采取不同的步骤。我们将采取同样的步骤，他们将非常非常难以俄罗斯，他们应该理解。”
安娜·赚钱者/盖蒂图像公司
德国总理奥拉夫·舒尔茨与美国总统乔·拜登一同发表讲话
拜登补充说，应该采取所有外交途径来缓和乌克兰边境的局势，那里聚集了至少10万俄罗斯军队，俄罗斯需要理解北约国家站在一起。
当被另一名记者问及仍在乌克兰的美国人是否应该离开时，拜登表示，美国人离开这个国家是“明智的”。
“我不是在说我们的外交核心。我说的是在那里的美国人。我讨厌看到他们陷入交叉火力，如果事实上，他们真的入侵了。这是没有必要的，”拜登说。
美国广播公司新闻首席白宫记者塞西莉亚·维加在拜登离开新闻发布会时问道，“降级可能吗?”
拜登回答说:“答案是肯定的。
虽然一名政府官员早些时候承认“已经公开的说法”表明德国对俄罗斯的回应是缺乏的，但他们并没有直接批评舒尔茨迄今为止的犹豫不决。但他们拒绝透露，如果普京决定采取行动，美国官员是否已经说服德国人同意完全封锁北溪2号的计划。
这位官员说:“我们相信，德国人和我们一样对俄罗斯的侵略感到担忧，他们非常积极地参与我们正在进行的威慑和外交努力。“我能说的是，我们将继续与德国密切合作，以确保管道不会向前推进。”
当被问及无论俄罗斯是否入侵，政府是否正在努力阻止北溪管道投入运营时，这位官员在拜登发表联合讲话之前强调了美国对该项目的总体反对。
“目前没有任何气体流经管道。几个月内不会有任何天然气，部分原因是美国在这个问题上能够与德国进行外交合作，”这位官员指出。
美国广播公司新闻获悉，普京现在有70%的必要兵力可能在乌克兰边境对乌克兰发动全面攻击。随着美国情报显示普京正在为大规模入侵做准备，这位高级政府官员表示，德国等关键盟友正在了解情况。
“我绝对认为，就意识到俄罗斯进一步侵略乌克兰的风险而言，我们两国是统一的。我们长期以来一直与德国和我们的其他盟友分享情报，”这位官员说。“我认为绝对一致的意见是，如果俄罗斯进一步发动侵略，就需要在东部部署更多的军队，并实施大规模的经济制裁。”
舒尔茨上任近两个月来的这次访问凸显了美德关系的重要性。
拜登在10月份的20国集团峰会上首次会见了斯科尔斯，当时前总理安格拉·默克尔邀请时任财政部长陪同她与拜登会面，这让两位领导人有机会在斯科尔斯掌权之前会面。
据俄罗斯媒体报道，拜登和斯科尔斯在东厅参加了他们的首次联合新闻发布会，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙和普京的面对面会谈在五个小时后结束。
拜登周一对记者表示，当他警告俄罗斯可能面临的制裁时，他在与普京的讨论中“非常坦率和直言不讳”，但他表示，他仍然不知道普京最终会做什么。
“我知道他现在处于能够入侵的位置，几乎假设基辅上方的地面是冰冻的。他有能力做到这一点，”拜登说。“他要干什么，我不知道。”
Biden, German chancellor present united front amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine
President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders astensions with Russia persist over Ukraine.
During brief remarks in the Oval Office ahead of a joint press conference, Biden said the two countries are "working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and address the challenges opposed by China and promote stability in the Western Balkans," as military forces buildup along the Ukraine border.
Monday marks Scholz's first visit to the White House, and Biden said it provided a good chance to "get to know you more personally."
While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face "severe" consequencesif it invades Ukraine, Germany had often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany had also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian natural gas pipeline, not yet operational, that would carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia's threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. But meeting with Scholz Monday, the two world leaders expressed unity with their posture towards Russia.
After both leaders appeared to avoid mentioning the pipeline, under repeated questions from reporters at an afternoon press conference, Biden, standing next to the German chancellor said Nord Stream 2 would not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin of potential economic consequences.
"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the -- the border of Ukraine again, then there will be -- there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2," Biden said during the press conference with Scholz, who did not go as far as Biden, but insisted the U.S. and Germany remain "absolutely united."
Pressed on how he can commit to that given that Nord Stream 2 is under German control, Biden doubled down, saying, "We will -- I promise you -- we will be able to do it."
Scholz, in turn, expressed unity with the U.S. and said that Germany was preparing sanctions in case Putin decides to invade.
"As I already said, we are acting together," Scholz said at the press conference. "We are absolutely united and we will not take different steps. We will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand."
Biden added that all diplomatic lanes should be taken to de-escalate the situation on the Ukraine border where at least 100,000 Russian troops have gathered and that Russia needs to understand NATO nations stand together.
Asked by another reporter if Americans who are still in Ukraine should leave, Biden said would be "wise" for Americans to leave the country.
“I’m not talking about our diplomatic core. I'm talking about Americans who are there. I hate to see them get caught in a crossfire if, in fact, they did invade. And there's no need for that," Biden said.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Biden as he was exiting the press conference, "Is de-escalation possible?"
"The answer is yes," Biden replied.
While an administration official earlier acknowledged "the narrative that's been out there" that Germany's response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz's hesitation thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Putin decides to move.
"We're confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they're very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy," the official said. "What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward."
When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall, ahead of Biden's joint remarks.
"There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won't be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany," the official noted.
ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.
"I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies," the official said. "And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there's a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions."
Scholz's visit comes almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.
Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-20 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.
As Biden and Scholz participated in their first joint press conference from the East Room, in-person talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin wrapped after five hours, according to Russian media.
Biden told reporters Monday that he has been “very straightforward and blunt” in his discussions with Putin when warning of sanctions Russia could face but said he still he does not know what Putin will ultimately do.
“I know he's in a position now to be able to invade, almost assuming that the ground is frozen above Kiev. He has the capacity to do that," Biden said. "What he's going to do, I don't know."
