US deliberately orchestrated Zelensky-Trump Oval Office clash, Friedrich Merz says

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The American side deliberately orchestrated the confrontation during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the White House, Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the likely chancellor, said on March 3.

"It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office," Merz said at a press conference in Hamburg.

The visit was expected to mark the signing of a long-debated agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. on jointly developing Ukraine's mineral resources.

The press conference between Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump turned into a heated exchange, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance berating the Ukrainian leader. Zelensky left the White House without an agreement in hand.

Merz said he was "quite surprised, including by the mutual tone of the dialogue," adding that the incident fit a pattern in recent U.S. behavior.

"There is a certain sequence in a number of events in recent weeks and months, including the appearance of the American delegation in Munich at the security conference, and we are now seeing it from Washington," he said.

At the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14, Vance stunned European leaders with a speech attacking European values and calling for cooperation with far-right parties.

According to Merz, these events serve as a wake-up call for Europe's security policy. "I am in favor of preparing for the fact that in the coming years and decades we will have to do much, much more for our own security," he said.

Merz, whose CDU party won Germany's recent elections, is expected to become chancellor once coalition talks conclude.

He has been a vocal critic of the outgoing government's Ukraine policy and has condemned Trump's shifting stance on the war.

On Feb. 21, Merz called Trump's statements about Ukraine "shocking" and aligning with Russian narratives.