German FM warns Trump against unilateral deals with Putin

He will run for reelection, had Brexit chat with Queen Elizabeth


FE Team | Published: July 15, 2018 21:02:53


US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump leaving the US ambassador's residence, Winfield House, in London recently — Reuters

German Foreign Minister (FM) Heiko Maas has warned US President Donald Trump against making any unilateral deals with Russia that come with a cost for the United States' Western allies, reports Reuters.

Trump, who meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland on Monday, this week accused Germany of being a "captive" of Russia due to its energy reliance, before a NATO summit where he pressed allies to more than double Defence spending.

On Thursday, Trump described Putin as a "competitor" rather than an "enemy" and said he expected they would get on well when they hold their first summit in Helsinki.

Trump also said the meeting with Putin may be the easiest on his Europe trip.

Maas welcomed the meeting, at which the US president has said he will raise the issue of nuclear weapons reduction.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he intends to run for re-election in 2020 because "everybody wants me to" and there are no Democratic candidates who could defeat him, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.

Asked by British journalist Piers Morgan in an interview given on Friday whether he was going to run in 2020, Trump was quoted by the Mail on Sunday as saying: "Well I fully intend to. It seems like everybody wants me to."

Trump said he did not see any Democrat who could beat him: "I don't see anybody. I know them all and I don't see anybody."

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