Joe Biden and Angela Merkel vowed to stay together to avoid Russian “aggression”

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, vowed Thursday to stick together to prevent Russia’s “aggression”, although they have clearly expressed some of their differences on international challenges.

Merkel thus became the first European leader Biden has hosted at the White House since taking office in January, and his visit had a scent of farewell, since he arrived a few months before leaving active politics at the end of this year.

“She knows the Oval Office as well as I do”, Biden said at a joint press conference with Merkel, who has met four US presidents during his 16 years as German chancellor.

Biden prepared for Merkel some distinctions very similar to those of state visits to the United States, with a dinner included at the end of the day, Even if the planned evening was more modest than the other evenings spent at the White House, probably due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The chancellor was visibly more at ease than four years ago, when he visited Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump in the White House and made it clear his disharmony with that president, with whom he had deep disagreements on topics such as immigration, the climate crisis or the nuclear deal with Iran.

“Today, once again, I saw that we are not only partners and allies, but very close friends ”, Merkel told Biden at the press conference.

Discrepancies around the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline

“We stand in solidarity to defend our allies against Russian aggression (…) and we are absolutely united in our conviction that Russia must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon to coerce or threaten its neighbors.”Biden said.

However, the US President took advantage of the joint press conference on the occasion of the Chancellor’s last visit to the White House, to underline its rejection of the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline which will supply natural gas to Europe, and for Washington, this means using Moscow’s energy “like a weapon”.

“My point of view on Nord Stream 2 has been known for some time (…) Good friends may not agree, but when I took office it was 90% over and imposing sanctions didn’t seem to make sense. “added.

For her part, Merkel referred to the “different assessments of what this project involves” with the United States, and accepted the idea of ​​defending Ukraine as a “transit country for natural gas and which continues to have the right to territorial sovereignty”.

Merkel met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, promising to “take seriously” Kiev’s concerns about Russian pressure. on its territory and with it the gas pipeline project. The German president appears to have complied during her visit to the United States and said she had “engaged” with Biden regarding Ukraine’s demands.

“We agree on the importance of continuing to integrate the Western Balkans into European institutions, in our continued support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as on the continued importance of supporting reforms. of its Euro-Atlantic aspirations. “Biden said.

Policy towards China, climate alliance and the “open” world

As expected, furthermore, Biden reiterated his desire for Europe to compete strategically with China, which made Germany uncomfortable, which does not want to have to choose categorically between being linked to Washington or to Beijing.

“We will stand up for democratic principles and universal values ​​when we see China or any other country trying to undermine free and open societies,” Biden pointed out.

Merkel rather glued to the commercial plane in his statements, in which he affirmed the need to have a Fair “playing field” in competition with China and praised Biden’s initiative for the United States and Europe to work together to be “technology leaders”, for example, in chipmaking.

The two leaders announced a “Alliance on Climate and Energy” to fight the climate crisis and signed what they dubbed the “Washington Declaration”, in which they detailed the principles which they hope will guide bilateral cooperation in the years to come.

In it, the two promised to “Defend an open world”, with the free movement of goods and the freedom of navigation; and they underlined their adherence to “democratic principles, values ​​and institutions”.

They also pledged “to continue to work tirelessly for a Europe of integrity, free and peaceful”, and to ensure that emerging technologies are used for “freedom and not repression”.

With information from EuropaPress and EFE

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