Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel in Joint Press Conference - whitehouse.gov

Germany is one of our strongest allies, so whenever we meet it’s an opportunity to coordinate closely on a whole range of issues critical to our shared security and prosperity.  As Angela and our German friends prepare to host the G7 this spring, it’s also important for us to be able to coordinate on a set of shared goals. 

And at our working lunch this afternoon, we’ll focus on what we can do to keep the economy growing and creating jobs.  As strong supporters of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, we agree that there needs to be meaningful progress this year toward an agreement that boosts our economies with strong protections for consumers and workers and the environment.  

I look forward to hearing Angela’s assessment of how Europe and the IMF can work with the new Greek government to find a way that returns Greece to sustainable growth within the Eurozone, where growth is critical to both the United States and the global economy.  And we’ll be discussing our work to get all major economies to take ambitious action on climate change, including our initiative to limit public financing for coal-fired power plants overseas and our global efforts to phase down some of the most dangerous greenhouse gases. 

Our discussion this morning focused on global security issues.  We reaffirmed our commitment to training Afghan security forces and supporting a sovereign, secure and united Afghanistan. We agree that the international community has to continue enforcing existing sanctions as part of our diplomatic effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, even as the P5-plus-1 works closely together to do everything we can to try to achieve a good, verifiable deal.  

Two issues in particular that dominated our workday this morning -- Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the international fight against ISIL.   Read More at For Immediate Release

President Obama Hosts Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, "One of Our Strongest Allies"