On Wednesday, December 8, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz officially took over as Federal Chancellor of Germany.

After voting in the Bundestag, he was elected to the post, after which he received a credential from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and then took the oath.

Finally, at 15:00 local time (17:00 Moscow time), the ceremony of handing over power to Scholz from Angela Merkel, who served as chancellor for 16 years, took place.

In parallel, members of the new cabinet of ministers took office.

The President of Russia sent a telegram to Merkel in which he thanked her for many years of fruitful cooperation and readiness for a mutually respectful dialogue.

Vladimir Putin also sent a telegram to Scholz, in which he congratulated him on taking office and expressed his hope for constructive work.

“Relations between Russia and Germany have traditionally been of great importance not only for the peoples of our countries, but also for the whole of Europe.

I look forward to establishing a constructive dialogue and joint work with you ... This, undoubtedly, would meet the fundamental interests of Russians and Germans, would contribute to strengthening stability and security at the regional and global levels, ”the Kremlin press service quotes the text of the message.

Scholz will make his first foreign visits on December 10.

In Paris and Brussels, he intends to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President of the European Council Charles Michel.

At the same time, on the eve of the then still candidate for the post of Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, he said that Berlin was concerned about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Scholz said this during a joint press conference with the chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) Christian Lindner and co-chairman of the Green Party Robert Habek.

Scholz said that Germany, Europe and the United States are watching with great concern the movements of troops on the Ukrainian border.

“Therefore, it should be very, very clear that the situation will be unacceptable if it poses a threat to Ukraine,” Scholz said.

  • Olaf Scholz

  • © REUTERS / Fabrizio Bensch

The politician also added: "It is very important that no one leafing through history books in order to be able to redraw the borders."

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, noted in an interview with RT, such a reaction of German politicians echoes the position of Washington.

“In this case, we can’t regard Berlin’s position as independent actions, it’s just following the American line,” the expert said.

A similar point of view was expressed by Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Now Berlin is trying to verbally support anti-Russian rhetoric in order to show its solidarity with Ukraine and the United States.

However, Germany will continue economic cooperation with Russia anyway, ”the expert is sure.

Element of Instability

Recently, the Financial Times, citing sources in the EU, reported that the American leadership had to make great efforts to convince the European allies of the possibility of a Russian "invasion" of Ukraine.

To do this, Washington required "weeks of prolonged diplomatic interaction" with European countries, as well as a demonstration of some intelligence.

According to the newspaper, such a campaign became necessary because of the doubts of the European allies of the United States regarding statements about Russia's preparation of "military aggression" against Ukraine. 

This topic has been circulating in the Western media since the end of October, when The Washington Post published an article about the build-up of Russian troops on the western contours of the country.

The publication referred to anonymous sources.

  • Border of Russia and Ukraine

  • © REUTERS / Gleb Garanich

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied this information.

The department then stated that the Ukrainian intelligence did not record an additional transfer of Russian equipment and military personnel to the border with Ukraine.

However, this did not bother the Western media, which continued to publish materials about the allegedly impending "Russian invasion."

The time is even named: as Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told the Western media that Russia will attack Ukraine in late January - early February 2022. 

As Konstantin Blokhin noted, the American media are actively escalating the situation, making Russia an enemy and demonizing it.

“All this brings instability to international relations.

And this is being done to substantiate further anti-Russian steps by the American side, ”the expert said.

Vladimir Shapovalov agrees that in this case we are talking about an active information campaign unleashed against Russia.

“The reason is not only to create pressure on Russia on the eve and during negotiations between the presidents of Russia and the United States - this is one goal.

The second goal is more global, it has been being realized for many years.

This is the transformation of Ukraine into a gray zone, into a springboard for causing maximum damage and harm to Russia.

Now we see the deployment of the next phase of this scenario, ”the expert explained.

Kiev actively joined this campaign.

In early December, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov published an article in which he called on Western countries to increase their support for Ukraine.

“A large-scale war in Ukraine will plunge the whole of Europe into a crisis.

The sudden appearance of three to five million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion will be just one of the many serious problems that European society will face, ”he threatened.

  • Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov

  • Reuters

As stated in the minister's article published on the Atlantic Council website *, "the only realistic way to deal with the Kremlin is to demonstrate a willingness to resist Russian aggression."

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities sent up to 125 thousand soldiers and officers to the Donbass.

Such figures were given in early December by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

She noted that Moscow is concerned about the factual refusal of Kiev from a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the south-east of the country.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are building up their forces, pulling together heavy equipment and personnel.

According to some reports, the number of Ukrainian troops in the conflict zone has already reached 125 thousand, and this, if anyone does not know, is half of the entire composition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ”Zakharova said.

"US Strategic Asset"

However, the United States clearly does not intend to condemn the preparations of the Ukrainian side, focusing all criticism on Russia.

As the Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the other day, the department continues "to observe the build-up of the Russian armed forces ... in the western part of Russia."

“This build-up is of concern to us.

It is still not entirely clear what President Putin's intentions are, ”Kirby added.

“But there is room for diplomacy here.

There is room for leadership.

This situation does not have to result in any kind of conflict or invasion. "

  • Maria Zakharova

  • RIA News

  • © Vitaly Belousov

The situation in Ukraine became one of the main topics of the talks between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, which took place on December 7.

According to Vladimir Shapovalov, in trying to blame Russia for moving its military across its territory, Washington and its European allies are demonstrating adherence to double standards.

“Let's imagine for a moment how the US would react if Russia deployed its military in Mexico.

The reaction would be harsh and violent.

Meanwhile, the US military has long been present in Eastern Europe.

Apparently, Russia is demanded to remove its own troops from its own territory, ”the expert noted.

Such demands and accusations undermine international stability, create a dangerous situation and put countries on the brink of military excesses, Shapovalov added.

Konstantin Blokhin adheres to a similar opinion.

The expert recalled that Washington is constantly looking for new grounds for anti-Russian sanctions.

At the same time, the main goal of the United States is to stop the Nord Stream 2 project, in which Germany is also participating.

“Therefore, the United States is escalating the situation.

You also need to understand that Ukraine in its current state is a strategic asset of the United States, a hotbed of constant tension.

Washington is not interested in a large-scale conflict, but the limited escalation in the region may become a pretext for speculation and the collapse of the partnership between Moscow and Berlin on Nord Stream 2, the expert concluded.

* "Atlantic Council" (Atlantic Council of the United States) - an organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation by the decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of 25.07.2019.