you on this busy monday with nbc's mike memoli at the white house, err an mclachlan in ukraine and the defense assistant secretary for europe and nato under president obama is with us as well. let me go to you, mike, first. we're waiting for the pentagon hearing to start any minute here but we're also expecting that news conference, with president biden and the german chancellor in about 15 minutes. the backdrop is what everybody will be watching and listening for, right? sanctions against russia, if they can move forward on that. the standoff over the nord stream 2 pipeline and how much of a united front will there be with germany now saying any invasion -- we heard this with the german chancellor saying there might be a united response, which the u.s. likes to hear. >> absolutely, hallie. when you think about the meeting president biden is having with

the new german chancellor today, who fills angela merkel's shoes for 14 years, the glue that held europe together on so many critical issues, military, economic and otherwise. so as we confront the new threat with russia and ukraine right now, obviously, it's important for the president to be sitting down with olaf scholz, especially when you consider germany has been seen over the last few weeks as really the weak link in efforts by the u.s., by the west, to deter russia from the invasion. that couldn't be more important given the assessment that we saw reported by our colleague courtney kube over the weekend. let's run through some of the numbers. 83 combat deployments ready on ukraine's border, another 14 on their way. that's 70% of what they're going to need for a full-scale invasion, potentially on pace to be ready for that on february 15th. this is also important when you consider the weather as a factor. that's one more sort of at the

best space in terms of the ground being significantly hardened for those tanks to roll in. then think about what the potential toll can be of a full-scale russian invasion. up to 50,000 ukrainian civilians potentially hurt or killed. up to 25,000 ukrainian soldiers hurt or killed in the first few weeks. also significant for the rest of europe, a potential displacement of 1 million to 5 million refugees on the part of ukraine. as president biden has been sitting down with chancellor scholz today, it's a chance to learn what are the plans for operations, and how much is he limited in ability to promise more lethal aid, economic aid? how far is he willing to go on sanctions? then it will be important to see how harmonious they will be at the press conference. >> it is something, i would say, vladimir putin is watching closely except he's a little tied up on his own meeting with the french president, president

macron, who traveled to moscow for this. that's an interesting one because in many ways macron has taken a little different tactic as it relates to russia and this crisis than the u.s. has. >> definitely hallie. we're just actually waiting now to hear what macron has to say. >> they're still talking privately the last i heard, right? >> yes. it's still going on right now. we have not seen a press conference yet. but vladimir putin seems to have subjected macron to vladimir putin time, as i like to call it. landed midday and didn't start talking until about 6:00 p.m. moscow. we are watching and waiting for them to emerge from the kremlin to get a read on this one. >> erin, let me go to you, ukrainian government officials we know are looking to see the response here from president biden. talk about how they're looking at the continuation of this military buildup on russia and some of the mixed messaging you heard press secretary jen psaki over at the white house get pressed on to.

>> hallie, ukrainian officials continue to downplay the threat in stark contrast to the u.s. intelligence assessment. we heard from the ukrainian defense minister earlier today say the threat of escalation for today is, quote, low. and they continue to assess especially as well the diplomatic situation noting the meeting you were just talking about there between emmanuel macron, the french president and russian president vladimir putin. the foreign minister today tweeting ukraine's red line, saying ukraine's territorial integrity must be upheld. saying it has a right to determine its foreign policy. and reading that tweet and speaking to people here in kyiv, you get the concern they're concerned they can simply be a pawn in a greater game in all of

this, that perhaps some of the sovereignty and some of the discussions can be sacrificed in exchange for the entire mess going away. that is a concern here in kyiv. at the same time they are watching the military situation, they are seeing the thousands of russian troops gathering in, for example, belarus, which is just hours away from kyiv. and they are making their preparations but also making the point in their estimation, according to ukrainian military experts i have been talking to, the russians do not have enough forces to hold any significant sections of ukraine. they may have enough troops to invade but they don't have enough to hold. so what is the end game here? and they're looking, according to one formal defense minister i was speaking to, at february 20th as a potential key date. that is when the military exercises between belarus and russia are scheduled to end. will the russian forces leave, or will they stay?

and what happens next, according to the voices i'm speaking to here, will determine in their minds the course of this conflict, hallie. >> erin, thank you. stand by matt and mike and jim. i want to go to the pentagon where secretary john kirby is talking to reporters now about this crisis. we will listen in for a minute. >> here's what i would say, just over the weekend we saw mr. putin add to the forces along ukraine and belarus.

without getting into specific numbers, he's well north over 100,000 and it continues to grow. what's important is not just the numbers, it's the capabilities and what we see is that he is really putting in place robust -- what we would call combined arms capabilities in belarus and along that border with ukraine and russia. that means not just infantry or tracked vehicles but artillery and long-range fires and air and missile defense as well as special operations. he has a full suite available to him and it continues to grow every day, including over the last two days. as for indications of an invasion, we don't have anything specific we can point to as an aha moment and say, well, that's it, now we know that he's definitely going in and he's

definitely going in on such and such a date. again, i would go back to what we continue to see him build there. and it's not just the combined arms capabilities, it's the ability to sustain these troops in the field for a period of time. even as he's added combat capability, he's also added logistics and sustainment capability. in other words, the ability to keep them in the field for longer and longer periods of time. so it's a whole pantheon of things we're looking at and watching. we cannot say with specificity now a, that he's made a final decision one way or another or, b, if he does, what it's going to be. but with each passing day, he gives himself a lot more options from a military perspective. i would just add, if i might in response to your question, there is still time and space for diplomacy. we still believe there's a

diplomatic path forward that should and can be pursued and mr. putin can easily de-escalate the tensions by just taking some of that force presence away, which is certainly within his power to do that. does that answer your question? sorry i didn't recognize you with your mask on. >> john, are you seeing any evidence that -- [ inaudible ] >> i don't see any indication of that at this time but we're watching this very closely. >> can you rule it out? >> i can't rule anything in or out with mr. putin. he again continues to add to his capabilities. it's not -- it would -- it wouldn't be exactly clear if the intent is to invade ukraine, why one would need a hypersonic weapon to do that. those weapons, as you know, are meant to be used at extremely long intercontinental ranges and to approach with stealth and

speed. again, i don't know what's in his head but one would thing you would not need that weapon to invade ukraine right across the border. again, i won't get inside his head. we haven't seen indications of that with respect to what's going on in ukraine. >> has there been any fracturing within the russian. [ inaudible ] class or the general that there's any sense that they might think this is not such a great idea? >> i have seen press reporting on that today. i cannot confirm those reports. i would just say that major military decisions don't get made in that country without mr. putin being directly involved. and so what we're basing our

judgments on is what they're actually doing. i shouldn't say judgments, our expectations, based on what they're actually doing, what we are seeing them do. and they continue, whether there's dissension in the ranks or not, they continue to add to their capabilities if they want to conduct another invasion of ukraine. >> quick question. >> you have been listening, of course, to the pentagon press secretary john kirby taking questions from reporters about the topic of the hour here, right, it's been the topic of the month the past couple of months, and that is the tensions between russia, ukraine, the u.s. involvement there with u.s. troops in eastern europe. russia, as you just heard from mr. kirby there, amassing more of its troops on the border with ukraine. over the weekend adding to their capabilities. let me bring in mike memoli from the white house, jim townsend as well, former deputy assistant defense secretary under former

president obama. jim, as we heard from john kirby there, even over the weekend, vladimir putin is putting more and more troops along the border. according to the pentagon that is their assessment. at the same time he's making himself available to the french president to have some of these discussions, let's call it, as the diplomatic track there. what do you think about it? >> i think this is the last discussion on the diplomatic track. in a lot of ways these are hail marys. we have the french president going over. i understand the german chancellor might be visiting as well. i think perhaps i heard the polish foreign minister or polish official may be talking to putin as well. so there is this diplomatic track, if not as intense as it was, they're not new ideas being put on the table. meanwhile, we are seeing this buildup. so i think this is probably the last bit of that diplomatic track. and after that, we will see

where we are by that time. it could be that if there's a military option putin wants to take, maybe this is when he'll take it. >> mike, let me go to you. jim, stand by a second. one of the things, and we alluded to this just before we listened to john kirby here, the different press segt, one for the white house, jen psaki, saying ukraine, being less dark than does the view from the united states, and the assessment the u.s. made about putin's capabilities and assessment of the threat level here. how are they threading this needle, mike? what has the response been? >> it's been interesting what the reporting's been from our whole team in ukraine where the move is certainly on alert but less concern. this is because they've been dealing with the threat of russia for decades. this is not new necessarily for ukrainian allies. but it is interesting as the

assessment made clear over the weekend there's a sense for a traditional invasion that could very swiftly take down the ukrainian capital and take down the government there but there's also significant concern on the u.s. part for something that would be short of a traditional military invasion. we're talking about all of the efforts to undermine the government without traditional military action. we're talking about affecting their electricity grid, false flag operations that can be the pretext for a russia invasion or other actions here. so that's also not just on the part of ukraine but the american officials, steps putin can take short of a military invasion. remember president biden got in trouble for saying minor incursions as well. that's one reason why the title of the diplomacy we're seeing the russian president sitting down with france's president, confirming he was planning to travel to russia next week. president biden speaking to both of those leaders about going as

well. you have the deputy national security adviser traveling to europe as well to try to get allies on board for what the response would be not for a traditional invasion but the cyber tactics russia can deploy as well. >> jim, let me pick up on the point mike made here. we have an understanding of the government assessment on what putin can do for the capabilities of a full-scale invasion. what are his options aside from that? >> well, you know, there's a lot of ideas circulating around about these measures short of war. the gray area type of thing. cyber is a major bit of that. if there's a major cyberattack on kyiv or some of the other major cities, the electrical grid goes down, that would also impact the economy. another weapon is energy. that could be shut off or it could be lessened so that there's cold houses and

factories that are not running. there were limited incursions that was said by president biden where if something may be in the bondous region, maybe by the kurj sea, if those made things worse, they might turn to the americans, this is something small. let's not retaliate with big sanctions, let's let this go. there's a fear of that kind of thing being stoked. so there are smaller options that can cause at the same time pressure on the west in terms of our unity if these are seen as small and not a kind of big kind of incursion. >> jim, i'm glancing at the screen because it looks like reporters are filing into the room where we will see the news conference between the president and german chancellor here. 3:16 on the clock. i would have been surprised, i

think, if this started at 3:15 on time but we expect potentially in the next couple of minutes for this to begin. erin, from your perspective in kyiv, what do you hope to hear and see from both of these leaders today? >> they want to hear the support from the united states as well as from germany, speaking to people here in kyiv, they have been disappointed with the german's show of support so far. passive aggressive is a phrase that one military expert used in describing how germany has approached this crisis, noting the thousands of helmets that germany sent to ukraine in lieu of lethal aid the united states and other allies are sending. their disappointed in germany's response so far. they would like to see germany step up in its rhetoric and in its actions and essentially at this point what they say as tha

alliss and increase support from the west in terms of lethal aid and diplomatic support and sanctions specifically mentioned in many conversations here in kyiv. hallie? >> we talked about timing and the idea if there would be any action, it would potentially be later in the month of february. there's been speculation perhaps out of deference to the beijing olympics and his relationship with chinese president xi, vladimir putin might in fact delay any moves until then. do you put much credence into that, or no? >> i really don't. i do know in the past there's been analysts that have drawn that conclusion based on the invasion in georgia and some other things. but i think right now there's pretty much unity in the group that the olympics and the chinese sensitivities and not wanting to upset the picture coming out of beijing, but that's not playing as much in putin's calculations.

certainly since putin has gone there, he's met with xi. he's done his olympic thing. so i don't think that is as much wearing on the mind of putin's in terms of a start time as people might think. >> let's wrap up this piece of conversation as we now hit the live tv news limbo of when might president biden walk out. >> i was so gratified to hear matt bogner talk about putin time because we were talking about biden time for a considerable amount of time going back to the campaign. i think one of the really important issues of this bilateral conversation between president biden and chancellor scholz and something you will hear a number of questions about, nord stream 2, the pipeline that would bring energy supplies, new gas supplies from russia to germany directly. it's been a concern and real subject of bipartisan opposition here in washington because this is additional leverage that russia has over europe. it's energy supplies.

and the concern is because of this new pipeline, that ukraine would be bypassed. this is one of the other tactics ukraine can take to undermine its own government, no longer ship to ukraine for the ukrainian government but ship it directly to germany. now, we heard from officials over the last few days leading up to today's meeting, if russia were to invade ukraine, that pipeline would never go live. it hasn't gone live yet, it's still going through the certification process, but that would be a clear and emphatic no on the u.s. side. but chancellor scholz as he was doing an interview with "the washington post" coming to the u.s., he used the term strategic ambiguity. he didn't want to be pinned down to how germany would respond except for that would be an action he would consider counterproductive but he didn't lay his cards on the table like the u.s. has tried to. >> he was noncommittal about it, rather intentionally.

>> right. as i mentioned before, he's a new chancellor with a very fractious coalition that put him into the office to begin with and he has to be mindful of all of the political interests at home. that is something we heard biden say, all politics are local and only personal level as well. but he certainly wants to hear more about what his limitations are today and you can assure there will be a number of questions from the u.s. press corps and german press corps about nord stream 2, like there was ahead of today's meeting. >> mike, jim, thank you. i think we will likely be seeing you in a couple of minutes. we will take a quick commercial break. you see it, there's the room where it's all going down at the white house there. we will hear from president biden and the new german chancellor surely any minute. if it happens during the break, we'll bump in. see you in a sec. see you in a sec

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now to some new "washington post" reporting -- or you're

looking before we get there at some movement in the east room, although it's not president biden yet. when we see president biden there, we will dip in live and bring you that news conference. before we get there, we will talk about this other new reporting from "the post" that says the archives had to go to mar-a-lago to get its hands at white house documents former president trump had there including what they called love letters between he and kim jong-un, and the tradition to leave between your former predecessor. the white house has declined to comment back to us when we reached out. i want to bring in the reporter behind this article. it's great to see you on the show. let me say this, the national archives shouldn't have to go to florida to hunt this stuff down in the first place, right, to lay that foundation? >> they shouldn't, hallie, it is

unusual and our sources released a statement just five minutes ago providing us with the number of boxes last month from january 2022 after they were in touch with the former president's legal team and they received received a total of 15 boxes. not only did the president not shred up but took down to him to his former mansion. and perhaps more surprising or interesting in this statement is trump's lawyers told the archives they would consider to search for a document that has yet to be retrieved and get them back to the archives. >> let me make sure i'm understanding this right, the archives confirmed to you in the last five minutes here, jackie, they not only took 15 boxes of stuff from mar-a-lago that should have been handed over initially but there's more they may be able to get that team trump is looking for now? >> yes, and that is the base

question we had and were not able to narrow down and it was just laid out for us. but we did detail the scale and volume of the documents they had at mar-a-lago was unusual. it is standard to the except of a president sort of forgetting they held on to documents. the clintons, for example, actually held on to a bunch of furniture that belonged to the white house they eventually had to give back. but we kept hearing the words extraordinary and unusual when reporting on this story, the momentum documents and gifts, including the letter from president obama, the letter he left for president trump when he left for office, is being included in those boxes. >> those kinds of things, jackie, i don't have to tell you, have a fair degree of relevant historical significance to scholars and academics down the road. do you know what, if anything

else, might have been in those 15 boxes? >> hallie, that's a very important point and a point that could have gotten lost in this conversation, and one of us have been having about the preservation of democrate sydsx democracy in general. and we don't know why having these documents is so important to preserving our democracy. this is a written accord of what happens four years under president trump, and some may be potentially key to national security for the biden administration to hit the ground running. they should have had access and quick access to some of these records, and under the presidential records act, essentially, every record that a president touches should be preserved or saved. we have found out that the

president's shredding habits, you know, continued throughout his presidency, and instead of preserving most of these records, people were scrambling to tape them back together or preserve them at all really. >> jacqueline alemany, great reporting. thank you so much for bringing us the latest to our show. we will check out the update. thank you very much. now to a no-knock warrant again in minneapolis. the last few minutes the white house reacting saying president biden is looking at the possibility of extending restrictions to other federal agencies through executive action. it's all coming after police shot and killed 22-year-old amir locke while executing one of these warrants, a no-knock warrant. we have to warn you here, the video you're about to see is disturbing. it's body cam footage that's been released by police. it blurs the faces of the officers as they go into the apartment with guns drawn. according to his family, locke was asleep on the couch, that's what they found walked in, shooting and killing people. minneapolis police are releasing

a photo from the bodycam they say shows locke with a gun in his hand. his family said he had a license and conceal carry permit for it. locke is not the target of the warrant. now you have protesters out in the cold this weekend calling for justice and the minneapolis mayor now issuing this temporary moratorium, basically a pause for now on the issuance of these no-knock warrants. i want to bring in nbc's shaq brewster. tell us more about the investigation and reaction from the family, any reaction we have that has now almost unsurprisingly made its way to the highest office in the land. this has gotten the president's attention. >> yes, those no-knock warrants have become the flashing point here when looking at what happened with amir locke's death. right now the minneapolis city council is going through a briefing, so to speak. they're holding a hearing and being briefed on no-knock warrants, the history of them and how other departments have handled them and been able to improve upon that. you mentioned the mayor of minneapolis, on friday he

instituted that moratorium, that pause on any execution of the no-knock warrant and has brought in outside experts to review and potentially revise the minneapolis police department policy because of amir locke's death. as this is happening, and as that conversation continues about the no-knock warrants, it also underscores how much we don't know about what actually happened that day. we don't know, for example, why a no-knock warrant was executed in this search. st. paul police department, they were completing or in the middle of a homicide investigation and they asked the minneapolis police department for help, they did not request the no-knock warrant initially but at some point that warrant was upgraded. we don't know specifically what they were looking for or who they were looking for, but we do know 22-year-old amir locke was not involved or not mentioned in that warrant. so there's still many questions as this investigation continues, hallie. this is an investigation being

run by the county attorney and state attorney general's office under keith ellison and you have leaders asking for patience as they try to gather facts. as you see from the images of protesters over the weekend, they want answers as to why amir locke died almost a week ago at this point. >> shaq, thank you for bringing us this reporting. we appreciate it. next up -- live in new jersey where students and teachers will no longer need to mask up soon. the reaction right as school gets out and we keep an eye on the east room of the white house for anything from president biden. room of the white house for anything from president for anything from president biden. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c .2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us

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to the pandemic now. one state loosening mask regulations that we're just learning about. we're talking about new jersey, where governor phil murphy announced starting next month, march 7th, students will not have to mask up in school. he announced this way back in 2020, in the start-to-middle of the pandemic. and he kept this in place throughout the omicron surge but says case levels are falling so we can relax that mask mandate. joining us from new jersey,

msnbc's vaughn hillyard. it's not like new jersey doesn't understand the impact of the coronavirus. everybody does but new jersey has the third most deaths per capita. you've been talking to everybody out there today as school is starting to let out. what are you hearing? >> i think it's important to go back to the chart, hallie, you just showed to the except there's been a drop-off in cases and deaths have taken place here. it's a 74% drop-off in cases in just the last two weeks but when we're talking about schools, one teacher i just talked to as she walked by, she said leaves her concerned. why? because of the except to which kids are largely unvaccinated. if you look across the country, just 56% of kids between the ages of 12 to 17 are vaccinated. and among those 5-year-olds to 11-year-olds, we're talking just 22%. of course, kids under 5, hallie, can still not get vaccinated. i want to let you listen to part

of my conversation with two moms here at wallace elementary school. they both happen to have kids at preschool here under the age of 5, unable to get vaccinated. take a listen. >> i don't see how they can lift a mask mandate for particularly preschool students where classrooms are being shutdown for a week to ten days of healthy preschool students because of covid. >> it is without a doubt in my head that the masks have kept them safe from testing positive any of the times he's been exposed. so i'm not too thrilled about it. >> governor murphy, he said this will not go into effect until the beginning of march and the governor of delaware also announcing today that come march, their schools will lift their mask mandates. but also it is important to note here in new jersey, the democrats governor murphy, he's allowing school districts and local entities to impose mask mandates if they so choose to

do. and that is where so much of the concern is here, is the potential spike and outbreaks in these classrooms. governor murphy saying the last thing we want to do is pull back too quickly, which would lead schools to close. of course, that is where you're talking to these parents, their foremost concern is their kids not only education, but health. >> vaughn hillyard live in new jersey. great to see you out reporting talking to folks on that. appreciate it. want to go back to the east room of the white house where we believe we are under maybe 90 seconds or so from hearing from president biden. mike memoli is with us now. and we laid out at the top of the show 40 minutes ago, what is at stake here? you pointed out a lot of questions and the importance of nord stream 2. and who are the germans willing to support with the new german chancellor and they said at the "the washington post" they expect a united and decisive

response from allies, as president biden is walking in now with the german chancellor. memoli, it's great to see you. i'm sorry to shoot up why are your air time. we will take everybody in live for the news conference now with president biden and german chancellor scholz. >> good afternoon. i would like to start by thanking chancellor scholz for making this visit to washington. we had an opportunity to have a very productive meeting. i think our staff, we spent the first half hour talking together, and it's been a very, very useful meeting. one of the things that struck me was the shared values that shape how each of us approaches leadership, among them foundational commitments and dignity of workers and the need to treat all people with respect. so i enjoyed speaking with olaf

and i know we will continue to strengthen and deepen our alliance and extensive partnership between germany and the united states. of course, the ton of our agenda today was our united approach to deterring russia's threats against ukraine and the long-standing principles of rule-based international order. that is what we spent most of our time talking about. germanip the united states together with our allies and partners are working closely together to pursue diplomatic resolutions of this situation. and diplomacy is the very best way forward for all sides, we both agree. including best for russia, in our view. and we have made it very clear we're ready to continue talks in good faith with russia. germany has also been the leader of pushing de-escalations of tensions and encouraging dialogue through the normandy format. but if russia makes a choice to further invade ukraine, we are

jointly ready and all of nato is ready. today the chancellor and i discussed our close cooperation, developed a strong package of sanctions that are going to clearly demonstrate international resolve and impose swift and severe consequences if russia violates ukraine's soverty and his territorial integrity. and i want to thank germany and all of our other partners in the european union for their work in this united effort. we're in agreement it cannot be business as usual if russia further invades. we also discussed our share commitment to nato's article 5 responsibilities and reassurance of our eastern flank allies, we're united in that as well. already the united states is sending troops to reinforce the alliance, and i want to thank the chancellor of germany for hosting additional u.s. forces and for the long-standing

hospitality to our women and men in ukraine form. we also discussed the challenges we're facing from international order from china, along with russia and other competitors that are pursuing more liberal futures. we agree that germany and the united states will continue to work together to ensure the rules and principles governing emerging technologies are geared to advance freedom of opportunity, not repression or authoritarianism. we also reaffirmed our commitment to completing the work of investigating the western balkans and european institutions and finally realized europe is whole, free and at peace. with germany holding the presidency of the g7, we also talked about how that form can harness the world's leading democracies to advance a robust agenda on global challenges from ending the pandemic to addressing climate change. so the bottom line is this,

whether as allies in nato, partners through the european union, as leaders of the g7, g20 or through our strong, bilateral relationship, germany and the united states are close friends, reliable partners and you can count on one another. there's no issue of global importance, where germany and the united states are not working together strength to strength and applying and amplifying our effortsing to. so i want to thank olaf more making the journey today and i look forward to this as the first of many opportunities to spend together through the rest of this meeting and throughout the rest of the year and our terms. thank you and welcome. floor is yours, sir. >> translator: thank you very much. good afternoon from my side as well. i'm very grateful that we have the opportunity to talk in much detail today, and that i was

able to make my first official visit here and we also could talk about the importance questions that we're dealing with today. we're in a very difficult situation, and it is a good thing that joe and i were able to discuss what we need to do in this difficult context. of course, there is a military threat in ukraine, against ukraine. we cannot remain silent on that. we see the number of russian troops along the ukrainian border and that is a serious threat to european security. and this is why it is important that we act together, that we stand together, and that we do what is necessary together. it is important that all allies, the u.s. and germany, the transatlantic partnership between the u.s. and europe, nato, say the same thing, speak with one voice and do things together. and we made it very clear, if there was a military aggression against ukraine, this will

entail severe consequences that we agreed upon together, severe sanctions that we have worked on together, so there will be a high price for russia. this is a very clear message. everybody has understood it and i think this message has been made clear again and again so that even russia has understood the message now. what is important is that we also intensively work on preparing possible sanctions together. we don't want to start once there is a military aggression against ukraine. we have prepared a reaction that will help us react swiftly, if needed. and we will do that. at the same time it is important to use all diplomatic means we have, and i'm very glad about your great willingness to move forward together, especially the bilateral talks between the u.s. and russia. and, of course, the talks that we have agreed upon within the

nato russia pool, because this is important that russia understands nato stands together and nato is prepared. after so many years, there have not been new talks in this format so it's a good sign they are happening now. of course, we have controversial debate there but it is important that we talk and the same is true for the osce. we need to discuss about security in europe. this is also a progress, as tiresome as it may be, we have not yet reached any very substantial conclusions yet but it is good to see this format plays a role now. the same is true between the talks between ukraine, russia, france and germany, normandy format. we have this format but we have not been able to really use it in a protective way in the last few years so now we have come back to that format. we're having tough discussions in that format and that shows there are ways that will lead us out of this difficult situation, and this dual track approach of

clear announcements with regard to sanctions that will be taken if there is a military aggression, and at the same time keeping all dialogue open. i think this is the most promising strategy one can have and that is what we're doing together, to stand side by side in this approach. we also talked for other topics that are important for us today, especially when it comes to the g7 presidency of the federal republic of germany. we will work closely as strong economies, strong democracies and we also, therefore, have a special mandate to contribute to cohesion worldwide, and part of this is that we continue to do everything we can to make sure that the citizens of the world can be vaccinated, not only in our rich countries, but also in countries where people would love to have the vaccine but don't have access yet. and these are initiatives that

we have carried out together, and that are of utmost importance worldwide. the same is true for fighting manmade climate change, a big topic that keeps us all busy, even though it is obvious that only a global solution can be successful because climate is a global thing. it doesn't stop at national borders. as an industrialized nation we have technological opportunities, economic opportunities, and have to use them in order to prepare a situation where we and others can enjoy prosperity without harming the climate. this is the big challenge that we see and that is of great importance to us. this is why we want to work together on this strategy and use a climate club of like-minded people and partners. these are some of the topics we discussed and, once again, the

personal discussion we had illustrates the excellent cooperation between our countries, the strong bond we have within our trans atlantic partnership, and the fact that both countries can rely on each other. >> we'll now take a couple questions each. reuters, andrea, you have the first question. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you, chancellor scholz. mr. president, i have wanted to ask you about this nord stream project you've long opposed. you didn't mention it just now by name nor did chancellor scholz. did you receive assurances from chancellor scholz today that germany will in fact pull the plug on this project if russia invades ukraine? and did you discuss what the definition of invasion could be? and then, chancellor scholz -- >> translator: if i may ask you,

chancellor scholz, you said there was some strategic ambiguity that was needed in terms of sanctions. i just wanted to know whether the sanctions you are envisaging on and you are working on, the eu is working on the u.s. as well are already finished or is there still work ongoing? you're not really saying what the details are. is that just an excuse for germany maybe to not support the swift measures? >> first question first. if germany -- if russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of ukraine, again, there will be no longer a nord stream 2. we will bring an end to it.

>> but how will you do that exactly since the project and control of the project is within germany's control? >> we will -- i promise you, we'll be able to do it. >> translator: thank very much for your question. i want to be absolutely clear. we have intensively prepared everything to be ready with the necessary sanctions if there is a military aggression against ukraine. this is necessary that we do this in advance so russia can clearly understand these are far reaching, severe measures. it is part of the process that we do not spell out everything in public because russia could understand that there might be even more to come. at the same time it is very clear we are well prepared with far reaching measures. we will take these measures together with our allies, with our partners, with the u.s.

we will take all necessary steps. you can be sure there won't be any measures in which we have a differing approach. we will act together, jointly. i would say to our american friends we will be united. we will act together. we will take all the necessary steps and all the necessary steps will be done by all of us together. >> -- turning off and pulling the plug on nord stream 2, you didn't mention it, you haven't mentioned it. >> as i already said we are acting together. we are absolutely united and we will not be taking different steps. we will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to russia and they should understand. >> you recognize someone now,

chancellor? >> translator: mr. president, one question to you. the u.s. over the last few years have exported heavy weapons to ukraine and germany excludes that, has only delivered 5,000 helmets to ukraine. don't you think that nato should act unanimously in this respect and germany as the strongest european nato partner should also deliver heavy weapons to ukraine and ukraine has asked germany to do so and nord stream 2 i would also like to ask don't you think with regard to the threat posed by russia germany should already rethink its position on nord stream 2? and the third question, if i

may, over the last few days and weeks there has been severe criticism from the u.s. media and from congress as well vis-a-vis germany about the reliability of germany as an ally. this has been called into question. do you understand this criticism? is germany a reliable partner from your point of view? and, mr. chancellor, also a question to you, nord stream 2, you said all options are on the table. you're not mentioning nord stream 2 by name. don't you think if you were to spell this out you could win back trust as a strong ally here for the u.s.? >> there is no need to win back trust. he has the complete trust of the united states. germany is one of our most important allies in the world. there is no doubt about germany's partnership with the united states. none. with regard to helping ukraine,

one of the largest contributors financially to ukraine has been germany. germany has been in the forefront of providing economic assistance. you also asked a question -- you asked so many i can't remember them all -- but in terms of the u.s. media saying germany is not reliable. germany is completely reliable. completely, totally, thoroughly reliable. i have no doubt about germany at all. >> translator: we are united, and the trans atlantic partnership between germany and the u.s. is one of the permanent pillars of german policy and it will be relevant in the future as well just as relevant and this will be one of our top priorities always. on behalf of nato, we are the country in continental europe that is doing -- making the

largest contribution, financial means and also military power, and we are the country that contributes the biggest share. so since 2014 about 2 billion u.s. dollars direct bilateral support and within the -- an additional 3.8 billion made available so substantial financial means to stabilize the ukrainian economy. and we are willing to continue with that sort of contribution. so this is the very strong and unbreakable friendship between our two countries. part of this is that with regard to the difficult situation at the ukrainian border due to the russian troops, we have made it very clear we will unanimously act in terms of sanctions. mr. president, once again, a

question with regard to arms exports. do you think it is okay that nato partners have different approaches here and on nord stream 2 once again do you think the current positioning of germany with regard to the russian threat is okay? >> look, there is no doubt in america's mind that germany is an incredibly reliable ally and one of the leading physical powers in nato. number one. number two, the notion that nord stream 2 would go forward with an invasion by the russians is just not going to happen. now, "the wall street journal," sabrina? >> thank you, mr. president. based on everything you know now, do you think that president

putin will authorize an invasion of ukraine before the end of the winter? and what is your message to the roughly 30,000 americans who are currently in ukraine? do you think they should leave the country? >> well, i've had discussions, numerous discussions with the russians and particularly with putin. i don't know that he's even made -- i don't know that he knows what he's going to do. and i think he has to realize that it would be a gigantic mistake for him to move on ukraine, the impact on europe and the rest of the world would be devastating. and he would pay a heavy price. i have been very, very straight forward and blunt with president putin both on the phone and in person. we will impose the most severe sanctions that have ever been imposed -- economic sanctions -- and there will be a lot to pay for that down the road. it will affect others as well. it will affect us