President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Thursday ahead of the G-20 summit in Hamburg to discuss the threat posed by North Korea and the conflict between Qatar and its neighbors.
“The leaders conferred on a range of shared foreign and security policy priorities, including re-energizing implementation of the Minsk Agreements, de-escalating the conflict between Qatar and some of its Gulf and Arab neighbors, and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the White House said in a statement about the meeting.
The Minsk Agreements were struck in 2014 to ease tensions in Ukraine that arose after Russia annexed Crimea, a Ukrainian territory. Russia continues to back separatists in Ukraine over the objections of most of the international community.
A number of Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have rolled back or severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in recent weeks over objections to its alleged funding of terrorism. Trump has tweeted his support of those countries’ decision to back away from Qatar.
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are also expected to factor heavily into discussions Friday at the G-20 summit. On Tuesday, Pyongyang touted what it said was a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, further escalating tensions between the U.S., North Korea, and its Asian neighbors.
