President Joe Biden will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House next month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced on Friday as quoted by Politico.
Announcing the news on Friday, Psaki said in a statement that July 15 summit will affirm the deep bilateral ties between the United States and Germany and the leaders will discuss their cooperation on a range of common challenges including COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, economic prosperity and international security.
Throughout Biden’s term so far, the U.S. and Germany have disagreed on key objectives, specifically on presenting a united front against China and Russia, so the meeting would likely to delve into more contentious issues, such as the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Germany that Biden administration has criticized, but decided to waive sanctions in a move widely interpreted as an effort to avoid tensions with Germany.
Merkel, the third foreign leader Biden is to meet in person in Washington since he assumed office earlier this year, will also see the U.S. president, who is on a weeklong tour of Western Europe, on Friday for the opening of the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England.
She enjoyed warm relationship with former President Barack Obama, but U.S.-German relations grew strained under former President Donald Trump, who criticized Berlin on many issues, including trade surplus and falling short of commitments to NATO.
Trump also announced last June plans to pull 12,000U.S. service members out of Germany, but Biden halted the withdrawal in February.
Be the first to comment