MERZ SAYS OVAL OFFICE CLASH “NOT SPONTANEOUS”
Friedrich Merz, the conservative due to become Germany’s chancellor after winning the largest share of the vote in an election a week ago, suggested Friday’s Oval Office argument was a trap set in advance for the Ukrainian leader.
“It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but obviously a manufactured escalation,” he said.
“We must now show that we are in a position to act independently in Europe,” he said.
Privately, European officials have been fuming at what they saw as a betrayal of Ukraine, which had previously enjoyed staunch support from the United States since Russia’s invasion.
One senior official declared in the aftermath of the blow-up: “Donald Trump has to choose if he wants to call himself a leader of the free world, or leader of an extortion gang. The latter is not interesting for Europe.”
But Europeans are also still working hard to keep the US on side. Peter Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the United States, said Ukrainian-US relations needed to be reset, as Trump’s initiative to end the war was “the only show in town”.
Trump spoke by phone with Putin last month and then announced that negotiations to end the war would begin quickly, but his contact with Moscow blindsided the EU and Zelenskyy, raising concerns they would have a deal imposed on them.
European leaders agreed they must spend more on defence to show Trump the continent can protect itself. The European Union is due to hold an emergency summit on Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will inform member states on Tuesday about plans to strengthen the European defence industry and the EU’s military capabilities.
“We need a massive surge in defence, without any question. We want lasting peace, but lasting peace can only be built on strength, and strength begins with strengthening ourselves.”
Russia has openly gloated over Friday’s clash between Trump and Zelenskyy, praising Trump for altering US policy and denouncing Zelenskyy for challenging Trump’s proposals.
“We see that the collective West has partially begun to lose its collectivity, and a fragmentation of the collective West has begun,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“There remains a group of countries that rather constitutes the party of war, which declares its readiness to further support Ukraine in terms of supporting the war and ensuring the continuation of hostilities.”
