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Ukraine crisis: Blinken becomes clear during Baerbock's visit to Nord Stream 2 - "difficult to imagine"

2022-01-06T08:43:48.624Z


Ukraine crisis: Blinken becomes clear during Baerbock's visit to Nord Stream 2 - "difficult to imagine" Created: 01/06/2022, 09:30 AM Secretary of State Annalena Baerbock (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken say goodbye after a joint press conference. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived on Wednesday for her first visit to the United States. © Kay Nietfeld / d


Ukraine crisis: Blinken becomes clear during Baerbock's visit to Nord Stream 2 - "difficult to imagine"

Created: 01/06/2022, 09:30 AM

Secretary of State Annalena Baerbock (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken say goodbye after a joint press conference.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived on Wednesday for her first visit to the United States.

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Baerbock's visit to the US as a minister is overshadowed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

We work closely with Washington.

News ticker.

  • Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock * has traveled to the USA.

  • The Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate policy and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline could become central topics

    (see initial report).

  • Baerbock and Blinken warn Russia of the consequences when they first meet

    (see update from January 5, 7:50 p.m.)

    .

  • This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from January 5, 8:45 p.m.:

During her inaugural visit to the USA, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) insisted on Europe participating in talks with Russia on the Ukraine crisis. It goes without saying that "there is no decision on security in Europe without Europe," said Baerbock on Wednesday at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington. Talks on several levels with Russia are planned from Sunday on because of the conflict in Ukraine. However, the EU and its member states only play a minor role: Moscow speaks primarily to representatives of the USA and NATO. This raises fears that Europe could be bypassed.

Blinken assured at the press conference: "When it comes to questions of European security, there will be no Europe without Europe." Baerbock and Blinken warned Russia again of a possible invasion of Ukraine.

“The Russian trade is marked with a clear price tag,” said Baerbock.

“A renewed violation of Ukrainian sovereignty by Russia would have serious consequences.” Blinken also warned Moscow of “massive consequences” in the event of a military attack.

"Real progress" in the upcoming talks with Russia could not be made "in an atmosphere of escalation" in which Moscow "holds a gun to Ukraine's head".

Ukraine crisis: Blinken becomes clear during Baerbock's visit to Nord Stream 2 - "difficult to imagine"

Update from January 5th, 8:10 pm:

"From our point of view, it is very difficult to imagine that gas flows through this pipeline, that it will be ready for use if Russia renews its aggression against Ukraine." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday in Washington during a visit by his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock with a view of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is supposed to bring Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea bypassing Ukraine.

Baerbock merely pointed out that the Federal Network Agency had suspended the certification process for Nord Stream 2. "That is a state of affairs in which we also have a means in our hands." The German government would also take "effective measures" with its EU partners if Russia uses energy as a "weapon" or if it comes to "further aggressive actions", she stressed. Baerbock said in December that "if there were further escalations, this pipeline could no longer go online like this". Since then, she has been more reluctant to express herself on the subject.

Update from January 5th, 7:50 p.m.:

The USA and Germany joined forces with Russia in the Ukraine conflict. "Russian actions are marked with a clear price tag," said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday during her first visit to Washington since taking office. A renewed violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would have "serious consequences" for Russia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said before a negotiation marathon with Moscow that both Germany and the US saw Russia's actions against Ukraine as "an immediate and urgent challenge to peace and stability in Europe".

Blinken threatened Russia with severe economic sanctions in the event of a military escalation. “And that's not just the position of the United States and Germany. It is the collective position of many countries, allies and partners that have come together, ”he said. Baerbock emphasized that there could be “no decision on security in Europe without Europe”.

Differences emerged again on the issue of Ukraine's military armament. Baerbock made it clear that the federal government is not considering arms exports. The Green politician emphasized that Germany had supported Ukraine, for example, in setting up a military hospital. Blinken said the US would continue to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons. In the event of a Russian invasion, the US would arm Ukraine with such weapons even further than previously planned.

Update from January 5, 3:54 p.m.:

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived on Wednesday for her first visit to the USA.

Meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Chairwoman of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, are planned in Washington.

The focus of the one-day visit by the Green politician is likely to be the development of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Blinken and Baerbock had already met in December at a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Liverpool.

Is it really a Baerbock feel-good appointment in the USA?

Foreign Minister grapples with crises

First report from January 5th:

Washington, DC - Annalena Baerbock knows crisis diplomacy very well. The Greens' new foreign minister has been in office for four weeks, and since then she has been trying to get some trouble spots under control *. This Wednesday in Washington, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken receives the 41-year-old, the focus will again be on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. There are concerns that the US and Russia might leave Germany and Europe outside of their negotiations to find a solution to the crisis. Nevertheless, the meeting should be more of a feel-good date.

The Minister did not want to forego the signal associated with the trip to the USA.

With this, very early in her term of office - and shortly after Germany took over the chairmanship of the group of leading democratic economic powers (G7) at the beginning of the year - the Federal Foreign Office explained the importance of transatlantic relations.

It should also be about foreign climate policy * and the joint commitment to strengthening democracies - two other matters close to Baerbock's heart.

Foreign Minister Baerbock travels to the USA: Little dissent with blinking on Nord Stream 2?

Although there are also points of conflict between Washington and the new traffic light coalition - see the German-Russian natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. But for Baerbock, for example, there should be little disagreement with blinking on this point: The Greens * actually reject the controversial tube from, unlike SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz or the FDP.

Interesting at Baerbock's meeting should be the nuances with which she explains the German attitude.

While Scholz speaks of a private-sector project and calls the decision to go into operation apolitical, she recently insisted that the past few years had "made it clear, also with a view to the different perceptions in Europe, which geostrategic role Nord Stream 2 plays".

Video: Baerbock achieves a diplomatic coup

Baerbock travels to the USA against the background of the Russia-Ukraine conflict - "strong partnership"

Against the background of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Baerbock underlined the importance of the transatlantic partnership before it took off on Wednesday: "The more difficult times, the more important strong partnerships are - and as Europeans we have no stronger partner than the USA." In addition to the talks with Blinken (press conference around 6 p.m.), there will also be a meeting with the Chair of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

It is Baerbock's first visit as a minister to the United States.

The common message from the Europeans and the US government is clear: "Russian actions are marked with a clear price tag, the only way out of the crisis is through dialogue." This has been made emphatically clear to the Russian government again and again.

The US has been accusing Russia of building troops in areas on the border with Ukraine for weeks.

It is feared that Russian troops could invade the ex-Soviet republic.

Russia denies any plans to invade.

Annalena Baerbock (Greens): Foreign Minister, "convinced democrat and parliamentarian"

One day before the first anniversary of the storm on the Capitol *, she is not only traveling to Washington as foreign minister, "but also as a staunch democrat and parliamentarian," said Baerbock.

The European Union * and the group of leading democratic economic powers (G7) share the goal of strengthening democracies and making them more resistant to internal and external threats.

(dpa / cibo) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDI

A.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-06

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