"I think it would be prudent to leave the country," President Joe Biden advised US citizens in Ukraine during his White House meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday to discuss lingering tensions over the threat. of Russia to invade Ukraine.
Biden added that he doesn't want people to be "
caught in the crossfire
" if fighting breaks out.
Germany, he said, is one of America's "closest allies," so the two nations are working together to "continue to deter Russian aggression in Europe."
Scholz, who took over leadership of Germany in December, has faced strong criticism at home and abroad for not playing a more active role in addressing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Against this, Biden said that "Germany is totally reliable" and that the chancellor has the "total confidence of the United States", despite reports to the contrary.
Scholz
has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine
, instead offering to send 5,000 helmets, which Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called "a joke."
The foreign minister has also not specified what kind of sanctions he would support if Russia were to invade the country.
US troops continue to arrive in Poland in fear of a Russian invasion of Ukraine
Feb. 6, 202201:52
The United States, on its side, has been emphatic about the possibility of imposing economic sanctions on Russia in the event that it invades Ukraine.
Biden and Scholz also discussed the controversial
Nord Stream 2 pipeline,
a 745-mile natural gas pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine's transit infrastructure to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany.
In this regard, Biden said that
if Russia invaded Ukraine, "there will be no Nord Stream 2",
although he did not specify how he will ensure that happens.
Scholz, for his part, did not say what would happen if the invasion occurred, but stated that allied countries
will take joint action
, according to reports shared on the social network Twitter.
President Joe Biden (right) during his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House. Alex Brandon / AP
[Biden and Putin hold a phone call amid tensions with Ukraine]
The United States has warned that the pipeline could make Germany overly dependent on Russia for energy.
The Ukrainian government, which will lose a substantial amount of revenue due to the new pipeline, has instead called Nord Stream 2 an "existential threat" to its security.
The gas pipeline has already been built, but is not yet operational.
With information from
NBC News