How strong is the West's resolve when it comes to Ukraine? A steady diet of diplomacy so far failing to lift the uncertainty over Vladimir Putin's true intentions when it comes to those 100-thousand troops amassed at the border.

After Kiev, Germany's new foreign minister in Moscow this Tuesday. What does Annalena Baerbock bring to the table. She is a Green in a coalition led by the Social Democrats. How far will Olaf Scholz push? Will the new chancellor - seen here at NATO headquarters - ultimately green light the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline that bypasses Ukraine and links Russia to Western Europe via his predecessor's home constituency on the Baltic Sea? How hard will Germany and the rest of the EU come down in case of another Russian invasion?

That depends on Washington's resolve: with most international transactions in dollars, would the US treasury go so far as to freeze Russia out of the system? What contingencies has the Kremlin made in case the nuclear option plays out? In the end, can Vladimir Putin bypass the yankee dollar?

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