Over the past few days, leaders in European capitals — not Washington — have taken the public lead on many of the most punishing actions designed to persuade Putin to halt his invasion.
. “And there was, on the U.S. side, a real wish to have this coordination in the most effective way.”“I would go that far to say that you have seen a sort of transformation of the European Union with the kind of decision which had been taken — including in the field of defense,” Étienne said. “So, yes, it is definitely something which is impressive.”
Biden last week said it would be difficult to exclude Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication , a secure messaging system that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world.Although the idea was under consideration, some European countries had yet to agree to take the step.
“We were on the phone throughout the day, sometimes multiple phones at the same time, just to get the wording right and to make sure that all of our heads of state were comfortable with where we landed by 5 p.m. on Saturday,” the official said.The changes announced by Germany had been in the works for much longer.
Before Scholz, the German chancellor, visited Biden at the White House on Feb. 7, for instance, the two leaders had come to a general agreement that Nord Stream 2 would be taken off the table should Russia invade Ukraine, the administration officials said.At the time, in a joint news conference after their meeting, Biden was unequivocal about what would happen to the pipeline if Russia invaded Ukraine.
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