German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for a different approach in relations with US President Donald Trump after his meeting with him in the Oval Office of the White House, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and a wrinkled nose", Merz said at a business conference in Berlin. "We need to talk with him, not about him", the German Chancellor added.
Merz stressed that the US administration is open to discussion, can listen and is ready to accept other opinions. "You can talk to them, but you shouldn't let them intimidate you," the German chancellor said, adding: "I don't have that inclination anyway." Some U.S. congressmen don't understand the scale of Russia's rearmament campaign, Merz told a business conference a day after he and President Trump met at the White House, Reuters reported. "I met with some senators on Capitol Hill and told them to pay attention to the rearmament that Russia is doing," he said. "They clearly have no idea what's going on there right now," Merz added, without naming the senators he spoke to. Russia has put its military-industrial plants into 24-hour production since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has signed arms deals with North Korea and Iran. This has led European officials to warn that Moscow could soon be in a position to attack NATO territory, Reuters notes.