Germany’s Merz Pushes Zero-Tariff Deal With Trump, Plans Kyiv Trip to Press 30-Day Ceasefire

72 posts • OpenAI (o3)

Updated May 9, 2025, 10:04 PM

Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, held talks with US President Donald Trump on Friday and said the two leaders agreed that transatlantic trade disputes should be resolved swiftly. Merz told Trump that, under European Union rules, individual member states cannot negotiate one-to-one trade accords with Washington, and instead urged a bloc-wide agreement that would remove all tariffs between the EU and the United States. Addressing wider security ties, Merz called Turkey an “extremely valuable, important NATO ally,” pledged to deepen cooperation with Ankara, and left open the possibility of selling Eurofighter combat aircraft to the Turkish military. He added that he plans to visit Turkey soon at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Later in the day, Merz departed for Kyiv alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The four leaders aim to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, ahead of a summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” to press Russia to accept a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire. The initiative, coordinated with Washington, is backed by the threat of expanded sanctions should the Kremlin refuse to halt hostilities.

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Sources

bfmtv.com(3)ft.com(2)sueddeutsche.de(2)rfi.fr(2)

BBC News (World)

@BBCWorld

Starmer joins world leaders in Ukraine to call for ceasefire https://t.co/rYZvS8D7EE

franceinfo

@franceinfo

Summit in Ukraine: Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk present on Saturday in Kiev https://t.co/umtqfnmUp0

Türkiye Gazetesi

@turkiyegazetesi

Macron, Merz, Starmer and Tusk go to Kiev! ▪️ European leaders will launch a landing in Kiev as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues ▪️ Leaders call on Russia for 'unconditional 30-day ceasefire' https://t.co/SOu9moPNvb