US president tours village with German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of meetings
US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a beer summit of sorts Sunday, enjoying some Bavarian culture before meeting privately to discuss issues ranging from Russian aggression to trans-Atlantic trade.
With wheat beer on tap and white sausage on the menu, the two leaders sought to showcase a reinvigorated relationship ahead of this weekend’s Group of Seven summit.
Calling the US-German bond “one of the strongest alliances the world has ever known,” Obama praised Merkel’s partnership and leadership.
“We’re going to discuss our shared future—a global economy that creates jobs and opportunity; maintaining a strong and prosperous European Union; forging new trade partnerships across the Atlantic; standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine; combating threats from violent extremism to climate change,” the president said.
Merkel said Germany wants and needs to cooperate with the US. “We share this responsibility together,” she said.
Obama reached Sunday for a summit that includes leaders from seven of the world’s largest industrialized democracies. Before kicking off two days’ of meetings tackling an array of international crises and economic issues, Obama joined the German chancellor in Krün for a taste of Bavaria in a short visit that was heavy on symbolism.
After Obama declared that “there’s never a bad day for a beer and a weisswurst,” Merkel invited the US president to sample both. The two leaders sat down with village residents decked out in traditional Bavarian garb, sharing a toast and a laugh as cameras captured the moment.
As Obama and Merkel strolled through this idyllic area, Obama reported that it was “a very fine beer,” adding that he wished he could stay in Krün.
Afterwards, Obama and Merkel met privately to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, among other issues.
They “agreed that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the White House said.
Climate change and trade also were on the agenda—two issues on which the U.S. and Germany generally agree.
The G-7 summit presents an opportunity for Obama to continue to rebuild a relationship that has been tested amid outrage over U.S. National Security Agency surveillance in Germany.
Julianne Smith, a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said the revelation that the US had spied on Merkel’s cellphone “cast a very dark shadow on their personal relationship.” Still, the two leaders recognize that they share a common agenda on a number of issues, she said.
“He continues to reach out to her,” said Smith, now the director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at the Center for a New American Security. “I think they still trust each other. They have very pragmatic approaches to problem solving.”
Obama administration officials said the two leaders have built a close personal relationship over time.
The Group of Seven summit begins as the U.S. and its allies grapple with emerging threats and instability, with fighting intensifying in Ukraine, a deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran fast approaching and Islamic State militants making battlefield gains.
The G-7 gathering is not expected to yield major announcements or shifts in strategy. But the meetings spread over Sunday and Monday are an opportunity to build trans-Atlantic unity and ensure that leaders are speaking with one voice on key issues, Obama administration officials said.
At the top of Obama’s agenda is urging European allies to maintain a hard line against Moscow in the face of continued Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. EU leaders will decide later this month whether to continue economic sanctions against Russia—an extension that US officials say is essential to increase pressure for full implementation of a diplomatic solution.