"Please, no surprises." Merz appeals to Trump

Next week, US President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for the APEC summit, which will be held on November 17-18 in Shenzhen.

There may be a meeting of the leaders of the US, Russia and China, which raises concerns in Europe - especially since the Kremlin has indicated that the talks between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could concern the war in Ukraine and the security situation on the Old Continent.

"Keep playing on one team with Europe and Ukraine"

Although there is no confirmation from Washington and Beijing that the meeting of the three leaders will take place, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz prefers to play it safe.

Some here in Dublin fear there could be a repeat of Anchorage, he said on Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of EU leaders in the Irish capital. He referred in this way to the meeting of US and Russian leaders in Alaska in August 2025, which raised concerns of European countries regarding potentially unfavorable arrangements for ending the war for Ukraine and Europe.

I want to make our appeal very clear to the United States: please, no surprises. (...) Continue to play on one team with Europe and Ukraine - added the head of the German government.