The new German leader Friedrich Merz will meet Trump next week at the White House

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz He will travel to Washington next week to meet the president of the United States, Donald Trump, with the War in Ukraine And commercial tensions between articles on the agenda, said the German government on Saturday.

Merz’s office said the new German leader, who took the helm of the largest economy in Europe on May 6, will meet Trump in the White House on Thursday, the first meeting in person between the two.

He said the meeting will address bilateral relations and international problems such as the Russian war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and commercial policy.

The main work has been late to arrive in Merz, a lawyer by profession, who saw his rise derailed by former Foreign Minister Angela Merkel in the early 2000s and even turned his back on active politics for several years.

Merz has become diplomatic efforts to try to ensure fire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since he became the leader of Germany. On Wednesday, he received the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Berlin.

Germany has a great interest in deactivating commercial tensions between the European Union and the United States.

Trump threatened with impose a 50% rate on goods Imported from the 27 -nations block from Sunday, but then receded the deadline to July 9.

• Donald Trump
• Policy
• Friedrich Merz
• White House