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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the United States to apply more pressure on Russia to end his three-year war against Ukraine.
“You know that we have supported Ukraine and that we are looking for more pressure on Russia,” Merz told US President Donald Trump at the start of their meeting on Thursday at the Oval Office.
Merz stressed that Germany “was on the side of Ukraine”, while Trump compared the war to a fight between two young children who hated themselves.
“Sometimes you better let them fight for a while, then separate them,” said Trump. He added that he had relayed this analogy with Russian President Vladimir Putin in their telephone conversation on Wednesday.
Asked about Trump’s comments while the two leaders sat sits side by side, Merz stressed that he and Trump agreed “on this war and how terrible this war was taking place”, showing the American president as the “key person” who could stop the bloodshed.
Kimberly Halkett of Al Jazeera said that, although the two men agreed that war should end, how it happens “seems to be a discord.”
“What we have seen there was the German Chancellor suggesting and stressing that … Russia continues to retaliate on civilian targets, while, as regards Ukraine, the objective in the eyes of Germany was strictly on military targets inside Russia,” she said of Washington, DC.
Halkett added that Trump revealed at the meeting that he “implored the Russian president not to fight back for this attack which had taken place this weekend … and Vladimir Putin said that he was going to attack anyway.”
A “decent” relationship
Thursday’s meeting scored the first time that The two leaders sat in person. After exchanging jokes – Merz gave Trump a birth certificate at the Grandfather’s Grandfather’s Grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who immigrated from Germany – the two leaders had to discuss questions such as Ukraine, NATO trade and expenses.
Trump and Merz spoke several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say that the two leaders began to build a “decent” relationship, Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined the relationship of Trump’s president.
Merz, 69, who came to power with vast commercial experience, is a former conservative rival of Merkel which resumed his party after his retirement from politics.
Merz embarked on diplomacy in Ukraine, going to kyiv with his colleagues European leaders after taking office and received Zelenskyy in Berlin last week.
He thanked Trump for his support for an unconditional ceasefire while rejecting the idea of ”dictated peace” or the “subjugation” of Ukraine and pleading for more sanctions against Russia.
During their first telephone call since Merz became Chancellor, Trump said that he would support the efforts of Germany and other European countries to reach peace, according to a reading of the German government. Merz also said last month that “it is of paramount importance that the political West is not divided, so I will continue to do everything possible to produce the greatest possible unit between European and American partners.”
Under the immediate predecessor of Merz, Olaf Scholz, Germany has become the second largest military aid provider in Ukraine after the United States. Merz has promised to maintain support and last week, has committed to help Ukraine develop its own long -range missile systems that would be free from any imposed beach limit.
At home, the Merz government intensifies a journey that Scholz began to strengthen the German army after Russia launched its large -scale invasion of Ukraine. In Trump’s first term, Berlin was a target of his anger for not having reached the current NATO objective to spend 2% of the gross domestic product in La Défense, and Trump now demands at least 5% of allies.
The White House manager said that the Next NATO summit In the Netherlands, later this month is a “good opportunity” for Germany to undertake to reach this 5%bar.
During their meeting Thursday, Trump described Merz as a good representative of Germany and also “difficult”, who, according to him, was a compliment. He said that American troops would remain in Germany and said he was certain that Berlin spent more money in defense.
‘OK with prices’
Another absolute priority for Merz is to obtain the German economy, the largest in Europe, moving again after decreasing in the past two years. He wants to make it a “growth locomotive”, but Trump’s pricing threats are a potential obstacle to a country whose exports have been a key strength. Currently, the economy should stagnate in 2025.
Germany exported $ 160 billion in the United States last year, according to the census office. It was about 85 billion dollars more than the United States sent to Germany, a trade deficit that Trump wants to erase.
“Germany is one of the very major investors in America,” Merz told journalists on Thursday morning. “Only a few countries invest more than Germany in the United States. We are in third place in terms of foreign direct investment. ”
The United States and the European Union are in talks to conclude a trade agreement, which would be essential for the German export economy, but Trump said that it would go well with an agreement or prices.
“We will end up with a business agreement,” said Trump. “I agree with the prices, or we conclude an agreement with trade.”
