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White House Press Pool Reports @WHPressPool - Foreign Pool Report #6
Thanks to our colleague Stefanie Bolzen, here are the translatet quotes from German chancellor Merz he delivered to German Press after his visit to the WH around 3.45 pm
Iran & Middle East
. “We were united in our assessment of the mullah regime. It has been responsible for the brutal oppression of its own population for decades.”
• “This regime has threatened Israel’s very existence for decades.”
• “Iran’s military nuclear and missile program threatens peace and security across the entire region.”
• “Iran spreads terror. That endangers our partners and all of us.”
• “If this regime now comes to an end, that would be good news for Iran, for the people of Iran, and for the world.”
• “We do not know whether the plan will succeed. It is not without risk.”
• “Iran must immediately stop its indiscriminate attacks. It must end its nuclear program, its missile program, terror and repression.”
• On a future framework:
+ “We want to contribute to a new peace and stability order in the Middle East.”
+ “We want a binding agreement that obliges Iran once and for all to end its military nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
+ “We want to support the Iranian people in freely determining their own future.”
*
. NATO & Transatlantic Security
• “We have all committed to the 5 percent NATO target.”
• “President Trump acknowledged that the German government has taken on leadership in strengthening the European pillar of NATO.”
• “The United States respects Germany.”
• “President Trump assured me again that the United States will maintain its military presence in Germany.”
Ukraine & Russia
“This war has entered its fifth year. The number of dead and wounded has now exceeded one million.”
• “This war must end — not to give Russia a breathing space and then allow it to continue, but it must end once and for all.”
• “There are serious doubts in Europe as to whether President Putin is truly prepared to agree to a peace settlement acceptable to both Ukraine and Europe.”
• “Russia is playing for time — and in doing so, it is acting against the will of the American president.”
• “I have argued for increasing pressure on Moscow.”
• “We are not prepared to accept an agreement negotiated over our heads.”
• “Only if Washington increases the pressure on Russia will President Putin be ready to make concessions.”
• “There will be no agreement without the participation of the Europeans.”
• On territorial concessions:
+ “I leave Washington with the strong impression that the U.S. administration clearly understands what is at stake in Ukraine, and that this country cannot make further territorial concessions beyond those areas already militarily occupied by Russia — and no more.”
5. Military Involvement
• “Our Basic Law permits military deployments only for national defense, alliance defense, or within systems of collective security — and this requires a decision by the German Bundestag.”
• “There are currently no requests from either the Americans or the Israelis directed at us.”
6. Iran Strategy Concerns
• “To my knowledge, there is currently no fully developed strategy for the future civilian leadership of Iran.”
• “It would make no sense to carry out such a military operation only to be confronted five or ten years from now with the same regime in a different personnel configuration.”
Ines Pohl
Deutsche Welle (DW)
Tue. Mar. 3, 4:09 PM https://x.com/WHPressPool/status/2028941846169198765
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