The American side deliberately orchestrated the confrontation during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the likely chancellor, said on 3 March.
“It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office,” Merz said at a press conference in Hamburg, according to Reuters.
Merz said that these meetings with the press usually last only a few minutes. “On Friday, it was different. And yes, I must say, I was quite surprised, including by the mutual tone of the dialogue,” he added.
The German politician observed a pattern in recent American behavior. “There is a certain sequence in a number of events in recent weeks and months, including the appearance of the American delegation in Munich at the security conference, and we are now seeing it from Washington,” he said.
At the Munich Security Conference on 14 February, Vance stunned European leaders with a speech attacking European values and calling for cooperation with far-right parties.
According to Merz, these events serve as a wake-up call for Europe’s security policy. “I am in favor of preparing for the fact that in the coming years and decades we will have to do much, much more for our own security,” he said.
Merz, whose CDU party won Germany’s recent elections, is expected to become chancellor once coalition talks conclude. He has been a vocal critic of the outgoing government’s Ukraine policy and has condemned Trump’s shifting stance on the war.
On 21 February, Merz called Trump’s statements about Ukraine “shocking” and aligning with Russian narratives.
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