Obama to Meet with European Leaders during Germany Visit

Local Editor

Outgoing US President Barack Obama's visit to Germany is entering its second day on Friday, during which he is expected to meet with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and France to discuss the ongoing crises in Eastern Europe and the Middle East that have dominated his presidency.

"In Germany, he will ... have an opportunity to meet with the leaders of some of America's other closest allies: the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain," the White House announcement said ahead of the November 17-18 visit.

On Thursday, Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the White House describing the German leader as "the President's closest partner over the course of all eight years of his presidency."

The two leaders discussed the crisis in Ukraine, climate change and the proposed US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership [TTIP] which Trump had vowed to scrap. Merkel expressed hope for the two sides to resume talks at some point in the future.

After the meeting, Obama said at a press conference that he expects his successor Donald Trump to follow his administration's cooperation blueprint and said he expects Trump not to make "realpolitik" deals with Russia.

On Friday, Obama and Merkel will be joined by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Obama and his European allies are expected to discuss the same issues that dominated the NATO Alliance summit meeting in Warsaw in July, according to the White House. The range of issues includes the fight against terrorism, the refugee crisis, the Syrian and Ukrainian conflicts and commitments to NATO.

The White House also acknowledged that Obama would share with European leaders his discussions with Trump, who has pledged during the presidential campaign to renegotiate the terms of the US commitment to defend its NATO allies.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team