President Elect Donald J. Trump spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with the aim of restoring peace to the European continent and bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine.
With over two months left before being inaugurated as president again, Mr Trump has already assumed the role of peacemaker, embarking upon unofficial diplomatic talks with the principal players involved in the first major war in Europe since the Second World War, including with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday evening, the Welt newspaper reports.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said the two leaders “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe”. Berlin also vowed to “continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of both countries.”
Besides Ukraine itself, Germany has been one of the largest losers of the war, with a cut-off of energy supplies from Russia following the invasion and the subsequent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines severely hampering the economy of Europe’s powerhouse.
During his first presidency, Mr Trump frequently criticized Germany’s reliance on Moscow for its energy while expecting the American taxpayer to subsidise its protection against Russia’s military threat.
German diplomats openly laughed at the then-president’s warnings of over-dependence on authoritarian regimes such as Russia. Yet, failing to heed Trump’s message left Berlin and much of Europe flat-footed by the February 2022 invasion.
The fallout of the failure continues to this day, with Chancellor Sholz’s coalition government collapsing this week in large part due to the economy, budgetary issues, and the victory of Donald Trump, who is expected to relaunch efforts to rebalance the trading relationship between the United States and Europe.
