BERLIN—Olaf Scholz makes his Washington debut as German chancellor on Monday, trying to dispel doubts over Berlin’s resolve to stand up to Russia in the standoff over Ukraine.
As Scholz seeks to emerge from the long shadow of his veteran predecessor Angela Merkel, the new German leader will meet US President Joe Biden with several points of friction on the table.
While the US under Barack Obama relied heavily on Merkel’s unique rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, Scholz has come under fire on both sides of the Atlantic for his vague stance in the current crisis.
Biden has taken pains to restore relations with Europe after the mutual recriminations of the Donald Trump years, but critics say Scholz has made that task more complicated.
Berlin’s refusal to consent to shipping arms to Ukraine, its often muddled messaging on potential sanctions and above all its refusal to call off the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to provide cheap Russian gas to Germany have all vexed Washington.