A mini summit took place in Berlin on Friday 18 November between US President Barack Obama, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President François Hollande and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, Theresa May, Matteo Renzi and Mariano Rajoy respectively.
According to the White House, as quoted by several different media sources, Obama called on Europeans during their meeting in Berlin to continue their cooperation with the US on international questions, despite the uncertainty surrounding the foreign policy to be pursued by his successor, Donald Trump. Obama urged his European counterparts to continue their endeavours to obtain solutions to common challenges with the incoming US administration, on the basis of the fundamental values defining the US and Europe as open democracies.
A statement from the White House said the political leaders looked at the different international crises in the world and agreed on the need to work together to push forward the transatlantic agenda, particularly with regard to stabilising the Middle East and North Africa, as well as ensuring diplomatic resolutions of the conflicts in Syria and Eastern Ukraine.
Support for maintaining sanctions against Russia. The leaders called for sanctions to be maintained against Russia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. According to the US Presidency, the leaders unanimously agreed on the fact that sanctions must remain in force until implementation of the Minsk agreements.
On the question of Syria, the six leaders renewed their appeal for an immediate halt to attacks from the Syrian regime and its allies, including Russia and Iran, on Aleppo and called for humanitarian access to be created to the besieged Syrian city. Addressing the press, Theresa May said that the leaders were united in their condemnation of the atrocities committed in Syria. She added that the leaders needed to keep up the pressure, which also included sanctions against Russia and countries that do not respect international humanitarian law. The fight against so-called Islamic State and the migration crisis were also on the meeting agenda.
The White House added that the leaders had reaffirmed the importance of cooperation within multilateral institutions, including NATO, despite the fact that during his campaign Trump said he wanted to revise the way in which this military organisation operated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)