Europe is capable of sustaining Ukraine's resistance against Russia, even if the United States were to decide to completely halt its military support to Kyiv, the senior military official in charge of coordinating Germany's arms supplies told Reuters.

Tariffs, defence and Ukraine are on the agenda for Merz's trip, as leader of the EU’s largest economy.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday in his first visit to the US capital since becoming chancellor a month ago - in what is likely to be the toughest test of his young tenure yet.