'Germany is completely reliable'
| Jaw, jaw is better than war, war  Russian President Vladimir Putin with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. (Reuters)  Russian President Vladimir Putin has come to the table for Ukraine talks. A very big table.
If the Kremlin set-up for his summit with French President Emmanuel Macron was meant to be a metaphor, then Moscow and its Western adversaries couldn't be further apart. Macron's visit was the latest sign that crisis diplomacy is ratcheting up -- though breakthroughs are elusive as Russia relentlessly builds its forces near Ukraine's borders despite denying invasion plans. As Macron landed in Paris, new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Washington for his first big meeting with President Joe Biden amid suspicion in the US capital over Germany's backbone. Biden didn't have a huge table -- but there was a splendid log fire roaring in the Oval Office grate, though its intended symbolism was unclear.
Putin, of course, has been doing his own globetrotting, after holding a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping meant to summon US nightmares about a China-Russia axis. Even Boris Johnson barreled into the -- ahem -- party. The British prime minister left his bring-your-own-bottle scandals at home last week for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Macron will cross what might soon be a frontline and travel on to Ukraine next.
No doubt these leaders are sincere in seeking to avoid what would be a disastrous war (perhaps with the exception of Putin and Xi). But it's fascinating how each is using this crisis to further their own political goals.
Macron is a couple of months from an election, though he's not formally announced a bid for a second term yet -- insisting he is too busy working for peace abroad and prosperity at home to worry about such grubby details. (Right.) Johnson, meanwhile, needed every morsel of gravity conferred by a spot of global statesmanship with his premiership at risk of disintegrating. His hard line on Russia is meant to show the world the UK is a key power despite Brexit and helps the London government cuddle up to Washington. Scholz is playing the classic first-visit-to-the-White House card to bolster his own authority amid a wobbly start to the post-Angela Merkel era. Then there is Biden, who, with midterm elections approaching and memories fresh from the Afghanistan debacle, needs to project strength at home and abroad.
Putin is exactly where he wants to be. He's a man in demand, keeping everyone guessing and having everyone dancing to Russia's tune. Especially the US, a nation he believes humiliated a great civilization with NATO expansion into eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall fell.
Only the Russian leader knows if he is going to invade Ukraine. His decision is not just critical to the question of war and peace in Europe. It could also go a long way toward deciding the fate of the foreign leaders he has on tenterhooks.  US President Joe Biden with new Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday. The world and America The US thinks some Russian officers are skeptical of a Ukraine invasion
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Former President Donald Trump is making millions from a coffee table book  'Germany is completely reliable' For weeks, concern has ricocheted around Washington that Germany might undermine the West's strong stance toward Russia over Moscow's military build up that threatens Ukraine.
But Biden said there's no doubt about the steadfastness of the government in Berlin after meeting Scholz. He also promised that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project bringing Russian gas to Western Europe -- a major German priority -- would abruptly be shut down in the event that Moscow's tanks rumble across the Ukrainian border.
"Germany is completely reliable. Completely, totally, thoroughly reliable. I have no doubt about Germany," Biden said with Scholz at his side in the White House.
Germany's sensitivity to military operations of any kind beyond its border, given its history of militarism and the complications of its tortured relationship with Russia, mean it's unlikely to be in the forefront of the Western effort to deter an invasion. But Biden's comments seem to be a sign of confidence that Scholz is on board for the most punishing sanctions yet on the Russian government if it goes ahead and invades Ukraine -- even those that would cause real pain to the German economy.
Still, Scholz left himself some room for maneuver. He was far less equivocal than Biden on shutting down Nord Stream 2.
"We are acting together, we are absolutely united and we won't be taking different steps," Scholz said. The great unmasking Is this the beginning of the great liberal unmasking movement?
Masking -- in schools especially -- has caused fearsome controversy in the US. Republican governors have battled federal government pandemic guidelines recommending masks in schools and other indoor spaces. They've argued, against medical evidence, that such measures don't work and infringe basic American freedoms. Conservatives will crow that liberals were late to the party and they were right all along. But you can also argue that Republican governors, by politicizing public health guidelines, caused more sickness and death than was necessary.
 A video posted on social media over the weekend shows a stealth fighter that crashed on a US Navy aircraft carrier last month bursting into flames as it strikes the flight deck of the massive warship. (N502DN/Reddit) Thanks for reading. On Tuesday, international Iran nuclear talks resume in Vienna. US Secretary of State Blinken embarks on a trip to Hawaii, Australia and Fiji. The nominations for the 2022 Oscars are announced. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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