Summary of the day so far
Donald Trump welcomed Friedrich Merz to the White House on Thursday for talks on Ukraine and Russia, tariffs and defence spending, kicking off a meeting seen largely as successful as the German chancellor emerged unscathed without the fireworks that have characterised Trump’s other Oval Office meetings with foreign leaders.
Trump voiced doubts about the potential success of peace talks, saying it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately. He likened the conflict to “two young children fighting like crazy in a park”.
Trump said he will continue supporting Ukraine and that he had urged Putin not to retaliate after Ukraine’s unpredecented drone attack last weekend. “I said ’don’t do it,’” he told reporters.
Trump described Merz as a “very great” representative of Germany and also “difficult”. He said US troops would remain in Germany and said it was positive that Berlin was spending more money on defence.
Merz urged Trump to increase pressure on Russia, as he sought to remind the US president that the violence he abhorred seeing was a result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Merz presented Trump with a gift: a facsimile of the birth certificate of Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who was born in Germany in 1869.
Merz said he and Trump “agree on this war” and that the US president is “the key person in the world who can really [stop it] by putting pressure on Russia.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, warned that Ukraine’s recent drone attack risk escalating the conflict to “World War III” as he partly blamed the UK.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) said his team at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine heard repeated rounds of gunfire that appeared to be aimed at drones reportedly attacking the site’s training centre.
The IAEA team on site reported hearing at least five explosions between 11.30am and 1.45pm local time, each preceded by gunfire, according to a statement.
There were no immediate reports of any damage to the centre.
