Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn’t invited to the G-7 summit in Canada, although US President Donald Trump suggested he be readmitted. In an echo of Cold War meetings on neutral ground, Austria is encouraging the US to hold a summit in Vienna, a White House official said last week.
“I’m certainly in favour of that,” Merkel said in a German television interview. “I’d even wish for that to happen — that two presidents meet for an extended period of time.”
Merkel’s comment was one of two nods to Trump during her hourlong ARD interview after her return from the G-7. She also said the US president wasn’t entirely wrong in pressing Germany to increase defence spending.
Almost 18 months into Trump’s presidency, Merkel’s comments offered renewed evidence of Germany’s struggle to adapt to an upended relationship with the US. Echoing a series of comments she’s made about the erosion of US-European ties, Merkel expressed consternation about Trump’s disavowal of the G-7’s joint closing statement.
“Reneging in a tweet is sobering and a bit depressing,” Merkel said in the interview with broadcaster ARD late Sunday. “It’s difficult, it was disappointing this time, but it’s not over. Sometimes it seems the American president thinks that only one side wins and everyone else loses.”
Even so, dialogue with the US president must continue and global partnerships aren’t over, she said.
Merkel said the contentious meeting drives home the point she’s made for more than a year: that the European Union needs to stand together to increase its clout on the world stage and that the US is a less reliable partner.
“We as Europe have to stand up for our principles, potentially together with Japan and Canada,” Merkel said. The EU also won’t be “taken for a ride” in its trade conflict with the US, she said.
If Europe wants to take its destiny into its own hands, “that also means that we need to do more for our own security,” she said. That means Trump “is right to a certain extent” when he criticizes Germany for spending only 1.3% of economic output on defence, Merkel said. “So we need to increase our defence budget.”
At the same time, she suggested that US-European ties will outlast Trump.
“Sometimes, you just have to weather a dry spell,” Merkel said.