Andrea Shalal. Sarah Marsh. Andreas Rinke

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will emphasize their unity against any Russian aggression towards Ukraine at Monday’s White House meeting. They are there amid U.S. warnings about a possible invasion by Russia in the coming days or weeks.

Scholz has been criticized at home and internationally for not being able to lead in crisis situations. Before his departure, he spoke out more forcefully to broadcaster ARD, saying that he is open to the possibility of sending additional troops to Lithuania as part of NATO’s Eastern flank.

After meeting with the President of the European Council, the head of Baltic States and other diplomats this week in an effort to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the German leader will visit Russia and Ukraine next week.

Scholz stated that he was beginning to see signs of Western diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, including via Normandy format negotiations with France and Ukraine.

Scholz stated that it was about preventing war in Europe. He also said that Biden’s first encounter as chancellor would require “hard, real politics.” Scholz was serving as finance minister while Scholz met the two men in Rome during an October summit of leaders of Group 20 countries.

Biden-Scholz’s relationship may be crucial at a time in which French President Emmanuel Macron still has not declared if he would run for an election in 3 months. This is also when Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, is engulfed within a domestic crises.

U.S. officials minimized their differences with Germany which depends on Russia for and stated that they had been working with Berlin and Brussels to create a “swift, severe package” of sanctions to be applied against Russia in the case of an invasion.

Scholz also noted, in his recent interviews, that Germany was the second-largest donor of nonmilitary support to Kyiv. He said Germany had been critical in helping to get U.S. forces into Romania which has a border with Ukraine.

According to a top U.S. government official, “I am absolutely sure that Germany shares our concerns about Russian aggression,” the official added. According to an official, both countries agreed on additional measures like sanctions and the deployment of more troops along NATO’s eastern flank in case of invasion.

The details of the sanction package remain to be finalized. However, Russia can still be banned from SWIFT’s financial transaction system, according to a senior U.S official.

Biden is a strong opponent to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Russia and Germany. The U.S. will be clear about its position that it will stop moving forward if Russia invades Ukraine, the official stated.

Germany is dependent on Russian gas as half its supply. Germany delayed the approval of the pipeline for at least two years, and has refused to cancel it.

Biden and Scholz will talk about Germany’s plans for the Group of Seven rich countries this year. They also discussed their support for Western Balkan nations and how they are working together to coordinate bilateral as well multilateral responses against China’s nonmarket economic practices, human rights violations, U.S. officials stated.

Steven Sokol from the American Council on Germany stated that Scholz must clarify Germany’s position on Nord Stream 2 in order to show greater “creativity” in providing support to Ukraine. He did not recommend sending weapons.

Sokol explained that Germany needs to realize that it must take more actions if the country wants to play a greater role on the international stage. Germany must do more to become a leader.