Germany's Scholz and U.S.'s Biden call Ukraine situation 'extremely serious'

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis

(Refiling to fix typographical error in headline to make it "U.S.'s Biden" instead of "U.S. Biden")

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden agree the situation in Ukraine must be assessed as "extremely serious" as there is still a risk of further Russian military aggression, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Wednesday.

"Maximum vigilance" is needed as there has been no significant withdrawal of Russian troops so far, Hebestreit said in a statement after Scholz's phone call with Biden following the German chancellor's trips to Kyiv and Moscow.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden holds a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis

At the same time, both leaders welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement that diplomatic efforts should continue, the spokesperson said.

Scholz and Biden agreed it was important to move towards the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements negotiated by Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in 2015 and to make progress in the Normandy format -- a grouping of envoys from those countries that has met periodically since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea -- with the support of Germany and France, Hebestreit said.

(This story refiles to fix typographical error in headline to make it "U.S.'s Biden" instead of "U.S. Biden")

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska; editing by Jonathan Oatis)