Convinced that the US will remain in NATO, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz said after his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump was clear, he will not get the US out of NATO. I have no doubt that the United States will stay in the alliance, “Mr Mertz said, speaking earlier today on family business day, hours after his return from the US.

Referring to the content of his talks in Washington, the Chancellor told the US president that “the US needs partners in the world and Europeans are the right partners to meet global challenges”. This is the difference between authoritarian regimes and democracies, said Friedrich Mertz, “authoritarian regimes have subordinate, democracies have partners.”

The Chancellor, however, pointed out that in Washington there seems to be a clear perception of the extent of the current Russian equipment.

Regarding the US policy on Ukraine, Mertz expressed the conviction that good cooperation between partners would continue and said that the US government has no clear perception of the extent of the equipment and military mobilization ongoing in Russia.

Answering a question about the gathering of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine recently, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Mitco Muller was limited to declaring that Germany is in close and constant communication with its partners in NATO and in NATO.

Earlier, Bundeswehr Lieutenant General Christian Freuding had told Reuters that Europeans could cover US military assistance to Ukraine, “if there was political will.” The War in Ukraine is “waged on the European continent and against the European Security Class,” the officer said, admitting that “it is not clear how the US will be behaving in the future, which is today the largest supporter of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “In general, however, we can see that the US government has a great interest in promoting its own weapons industry, so I suppose with all reservations that it would be possible at least the purchase of the Americans for the benefit of Ukraine,” he added.

In his speech on family businesses, Friedrich Mertz also referred to the issue of US customs policy, noting, inter alia, that in Washington it was agreed to designate White House and Chancellor who “discussed intensively for German -American”. The Chancellor also said he would seek an agreement on the basis of which US cars can be imported into Europe without duties and in return the same number of European vehicles will be imported without duties to the US. “We need to see if we can come up with a compensation rule or that,” Mr Mertz said, adding that he would inform European Commission President Ursula von der Laien about his talks in the US tonight.