global economy ah, our portfolio d w business beyond here, the closer look at the project. our mission. to analyze the fight for market dominance. east versus west. get us ahead with the w business beyond on you to ah business g w. news live from berlin, presenting a united front against russia, germany in united states, our close friends, reliable partners,

and we can count on one of us president biden. and jim and chancellor sholtes say they stand together and their response to any russian aggression against ukraine. and they will work together to find a diplomatic solution to the ukraine stand on. french, president mccall makes his diplomatic push in moscow off the chalks, with president putin. my course as the next few days will be decisive in efforts to avoid an escalation of the ukraine crisis. dw visits a frontline town in ukraine where residents have witnessed ball before. i try to keep hopes of peace alive. ah, i'm will on sika a warm welcome to the program. president joe biden says the u. s. and germany are unlocked in dealing with any possible russian invasion of ukraine. german

chancellor will have shots, as on his 1st visit to washington, since becoming chancellor in december. it comes, it made criticism that berlin has not fully supported the u. s. lead push against a russian military build up on the ukrainian border by them. stress that germany is a reliable partner and they will work together to try to find a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis. germany, united states, together of our allies and partners, are working closely together to pursue diplomatic resolutions of the situation. and diplomacy is the very best way forward for all sides. we both agree including best . so for russia, in our view, and we have made a very clear, we're ready to continue talks in good faith with russian class as kids. and it's clear that the ukraine is facing a military threat and we can't remain silent on that. is that clear? also? so we can see how many russian troops are gathering along the ukrainian border. and

that seriously endangers european security in all pop. so it's important we stand together and act together and do what's essential together of the minds under linda good tool for war. i'm joined by our washington bureau chief in his paul in as a biden and charles chain to show unity there at the white house. are they, are they, as united as they say they are indeed they stressed it over and over again how closely german in the united states are standing together and that they will support each other. but only when it comes to the very question, how far germany would really go in the support of the agenda of the united states. we didn't really, really hear a clear answer from germany's chancellor all of shorts. so in the questions that are being asked about whether germany is a reliable partner, partly because berlin will not send weapons to ukraine. do you think americans were reassured by chance specials at all today?

well it really the headlines this morning in the last days weren't really her nicer when it comes to germany in the new chancellor. big questions were risen and it's quite interesting. during the trump years, it was germany which constantly asked how reliable is the united states and now it's the other way round. i, i doubted that this press conference today will really, i kind of re ensure the americans who are interested in the trans atlantic relationship that germany is there with a full support of the political agenda of the united states. right. let's talk about the controversial nordstrom to pipeline of the pipeline that will break, bring gas from russia directly to germany. president biden was very clear. he said, if russia invades there will be no nods. theme to death. chancellor shots is being more vague when he's asked that question, can it can bite and promise that he will stop her nor stream to without germany

being on board? well, that will be difficult, and biden is on a lot of pressure within his own country because republicans and democrats really want, in the case of an, a russian invasion, one germany to stop or nordstrom to. and it was quite interesting to see that everyone, the american journalists and the german journalists who are larger ass question in this crest press conference, stressed this very, a topic. and i, i mean, as you just said, all of sholtes didn't give any clear answer to this question if it would be willing to stop this pipeline. so what biden could do, and he could put sanctions on germany if they would a continue to support the pipeline, but that will deeply hurt the german american,

the trans atlantic relationship. all right, that's our washington bureau chief in his pool. many, thanks. now in moscow, french presidents, emmanuel michael, was also engaged in diplomacy, taken the role of a go between for the west and president vladimir putin. christian remained firm on his insistence that nato not you are deploy certain weapons in the region and not allow ukraine to join the alliance. you and he accused nature of stoking unfriendly relations by framing russia as an adversary to put in. also said several proposals put forward by michael could form a basis for further joints. you bullish refigure to and german 4 minister, and then a bare bulk, meanwhile, has repeated warnings that a russian invasion of ukraine would trigger unprecedented sanctions during a visit to kiev babble, he also stressed the need to avoid further escalation. a book is scheduled to visit

the front line between ukrainian forces and russian back separatists in the dumbass region on tuesday. i gave them you won't listen. dw correspondent mattie as bellinger is covering the story for us from the region he travelled to east in ukraine, near areas controlled by russian back separatist. from there he sent this report. the village school of granite mill. the last village here on ukrainian control territory is close to the front line. it has come under fire before. now the classrooms are empty, not because of the war, but because of new covey restrictions, the war is something people have been living with for 8 years. the moon, our own water pushing faculty that we go to work most of the time the children go to school that just be at. but we don't know what will happen in 5 or 10 minutes. but to morrow. nice. so moral was worried that the car always scared saperstein listed are just a few 100 meters down this road is the last ukranian position,

who is in the line, the fi of the opposite side. there is a heavy military presence in grammy. admit a ceasefire is in place, but shelling can sometimes be heard at night. lamb could read her career for saturday. we already know her sheets and when so we just sit at home because it was worse a few years ago. we always had in the cellar when there was fighting it. sure. but that was then the shalicia thing with the key to lovely. but with the latest russian build up, a bigger escalation is on the table. again, coffee and all kinds of stuff. when things come down, we bought a house here for tressa, but now we don't know what will happen. we don't ship ukrainian

control territory ends with the last houses of the village. behind a small river lies the demilitarized strip. the pedestrian bridge is the only link to the next village in the so called grey zone, was short. the next village is not small. people come here every day to work. and kids go to school. one of the people who crosses the border every day is teacher ludmilla car truck. she is from across the river and does not want to give her you name because her life depends on good relations with both sides. shelling is even more frequent in her village. there on board, the yell was on that of my work is here. i come here every day. yes, it's hard. yes, it's dangerous, very dangerous. let me but i cannot just quit work and leave. i just can't wait. i

don't know whom. she says she has not yet lost hope that somehow this conflict might come to an end peaceful. let's take a look now at some of the stories making well news. warners and morocco have held a funeral for re on a 5 year old boy who died after spending 4 days trapped down a well. bronze plans triggered a huge rescue efforts that gripped the country and many around the world, but ended in tragedy. the death toll has risen to at least $21.00. people are for psych loan head southwest madagascar, nearly 50000 others have been forced to leave their homes. the storm has brought widespread flooding to the indian ocean island. mexican security forces have evicted nearly 400 people from a makeshift ham in the border city of tijuana. it had been occupied for more than a year by migrants trying to reach the u. s. a. camp was formed after the biden

administration limited border crossings due to the pandemic. now to the drama attracting lots of attention on day 4 of the winter olympic games. chinese tennis star, pang shy, has given an interview in beijing denying accusations of sexual assault. she herself made against a communist party boss. a fest debate has now started outside of china as to whether she had to do so under duress. punctual i spoke to the french sports newspaper. les, keep with a chinese olympic official in the room and said her allegations of sexual assault against a former official of the chinese communist party was an enormous misunderstanding. sexual assault. she is quoted as responding to pre submitted questions. i never said that anyone sexually assaulted me in any way before her accusatory post from november, 2nd was scrubbed from her verified account on chinese social media. though,

screenshots were posted on twitter pong writing, that young girl, li, of the all powerful politburo standing committee had forced her to have sex. despite her refusals, she told la, keep that she is the one who erased the post. in addition to the le keep interview, the international olympic committee announced monday that i o. c, president, thomas bock, and others dined with pong on saturday. spokesperson mark adams said the i o. c will not judge whether an investigation on punks. initial allegations is needed. i think we need also to listen to her and we need to her foot to read what she's saying. we've invited to come to europe and we will meet her again. and i think i, i think we can say that we all doing everything we can to make sure that the situation is as it should be at the daily news conference. adams wouldn't say whether i o. c. officials believe pong, as speaking freely with them, or under duress, as many experts believe the sports organization are doing everything to ensure that

she is happy. in her interview with lackey, pung echoed the chinese government, saying her, quote, romantic problems. her private life should not be mixed with sport and politics. tim china have already managed a couple of gold medals at this year's winter olympics and another could be on the cards. on tuesday when chinese american island gu competes in ski big air e 18 year old only recently began representing china and competition and has found plenty of admirers in her adoptive country since making the switch. high lean, who is one of the best known winter olympians in china, despite the fact that she was born and raised in the usa. she's one of the home nation's most promising medal hopes. at the 2022 games. gu is among the many foreign born athletes competing to please a new set of supporters in beijing higher for sure. it's not to be ruled out that

they will may be looking for a platform that's bigger and brings them more personal benefits of young her. but this also proves that china's sports and commercial environment is superior to the united states. oh sure, your, your make well 18 year old girl represented the u. s. at major events before adopting her mother's home country for competition back in 2019. she's become a store of teen china, which features more foreign born recruits this time around than at any previous olympics. i'm not either they represent china and they bring jewelry for our country. i think it's an honor to bring glory to our motherland. well, no matter which nationality you are as long as you bring glory for our country. you are our friend who has become an icon of winter sports in china already.

and her games off for from over, off the sky began. she'll go for gold again in the slope, style and half pipe disciplines. to watching a tv news live from berlin. i'll be back with the headlines at the top of the hour before that sir. business is up next with my colleague, chelsea delaney in the meantime. you can get all the latest news and information to round the clock, of course, on our website. that's d w dot com. and you can also find us on social media. we're at e w. news on twitter. and instagram will also in berlin for me and the team. thanks for joining about 3 we got some hot tips for your bucket list. no magic corner tread.