The United States is not ready to impose economic sanctions against Russia. This was announced by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a brief conversation with Donald Trump at the opening of the G7 Summit in Canada. In their 20-minute conversation, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and US President Donald Trump discussed the escalation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. The Chancellor later wrote on Platform X that it had been "an open and reliable exchange". However, he failed to extract a commitment from the US president on US sanctions against Russia.
"I say it clearly: The pressure on Russia must be increased," the Chancellor repeated after the talks, which took place before the first working session of the G7. At the G7 summit, Merz, along with other Europeans, is supporting further sanctions against Russia aimed at weakening Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine.
However, according to German government sources, Trump did not commit to US participation during the talks. "There is no commitment from Trump, there has been no commitment, but there was another very intensive exchange about where we stand," German media outlet Die Welt quoted him as saying.
Those close to Merz described the atmosphere of the conversation as "trusting and friendly." It was the second meeting between the two in two weeks after Merz's first visit to Washington, during which the two spent two and a half hours together at the White House, exchanging kind words and gifts, writes A2 CNN.
There was no room for the issue of the tariff dispute at the meeting. Before his talk with Trump, Merz had said: "There will be no solution at this summit, but maybe we can get closer to a solution in small steps." If no agreement is reached by July 9, the new high US tariffs will apply to almost all EU exports to the United States - and the EU, in turn, will respond with tariffs on US imports. (A2 Televizion)
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