German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Donald Trump he is in a “strong position” to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine, to which the president suggested maybe the world needs to “let them fight for a little while.”
“America is again in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war,” Merz said, while also referencing the U.S.’s role in ending World War II on the eve of the anniversary of D-Day, which marked the turn of events that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. “So let’s talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can.”
Merz called for more pressure to be placed on Russia in coordination with European allies.
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Trump responded by providing an analogy of two kids fighting, and suggested perhaps it was “too early” to break up the fight between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy – they hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don’t want to be pulled,” Trump said. “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”
Trump said he gave that analogy to Putin in his call with him on Wednesday and said he told the Kremlin chief “maybe you’re going to have to keep fighting and suffering a lot.”
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Reporters asked Merz, who has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine and recently lifted Germany’s existing strike bans, if he agrees with Trump that “fighting it out” was the way to proceed.
“I think we both agree on this war and how terrible this war is. And we are both looking for ways to stop it very soon,” Merz said. “I told the president before we came in that he is the key person in the world who can really do that now by putting pressure on Russia, and we will have this debate later on again, how we can proceed jointly between the Europeans and the Americans.
“I think we are all… having the duty to do something on that now, to stop it after three and a half years, which is really terrible,” he added, making it clear without directly contradicting the president that he did not agree with Trump.
“We are on the side of Ukraine, and we are trying to get them stronger and stronger just to make Putin stop this war. This is our approach,” Merz added.
