'We can work with US'

GERMAN Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his meeting with President Donald Trump convinced him the US administration is open to discussion on key issues.

- 

Mr Merz, inset, described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Mr Trump on Thursday as constructive but also candid, noting the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine.

He said: "In the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch."

The White House meeting marked the first time the two had sat down in person.