World leaders to meet at G-7
G-7 leaders to rebuild trust, develop strategy on pressing issues
Economy and nuclear program are among topics at summit meeting.
MUNICH — When President Barack Obama arrives in Germany for the annual meeting of the heads of the world’s largest economic powers, he plans a single extended, one-onone get-together, a stroll through a picturesque Bavarian village with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Obama and Merkel plan to walk the streets of Krun, chat with villagers and share a meal of wurst and sauerkraut, an especially leisurely afternoon for a president who often skips lunch to maximize work time on trips.
The time devoted to Merkel reflects more than just personal affinity and a desire to show courtesy to the host of this year’s G-7 summit, which begins Sunday.
On many of the issues on the summit’s agenda — responding to Vladimir Putin’s moves against Ukraine, finding a solution for the economic troubles of Greece, confronting Iran over its nuclear program, bolstering Iraq’s government in the fight against the Islamic State militant group — Merkel has become Europe’s most important voice and a key U.S. ally.
“Merkel is the European leader he (Obama) openly admits he’s been probably the closest to,” said Julianne Smith, a former adviser on national security issues to Vice President Joe Biden. And yet, she added, “that relationship has really weathered a number of storms over the last year.”
The biggest storm was the disclosure in October 2013 that the U.S. had been eavesdropping on Merkel’s telephone calls for at least three years.
“Trust must now be built anew,” she declared.
Obama has spent much of the past year on that rebuilding, apologizing to Merkel and putting new policies in place to ban eavesdropping on the leaders of key allied governments, particularly the Germans. But the two battleweary leaders — the longest-serving heads of government at the summit — have little choice but to work together on the challenges they face, and the current summit could provide an opportunity to put the tension behind them.
The president “continues to reach out to her,” said Smith, who is now director of Strategy and Statecraft at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington policy think tank.
At the top of Obama’s agenda with the German leader is the conflict with Russia over its moves in neighboring Ukraine. This summit is the annual meeting of what used to be called the Group of Eight, when it included the leader of Russia. After Russia’s takeover of Crimea, Putin was disinvited, and this will be the second summit meeting without him.
Obama and Merkel will also talk about the future of international aid for Ukraine’s economy, which is nearly bankrupt.
With a June 30 deadline to finish nuclear talks with Iran, this also will be the last opportunity for Obama to sit down with several key partners in the negotiations. Along with Merkel, Obama plans to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande to “make sure that we are in lockstep,” said one senior Obama adviser.
The group will also discuss events in Iraq and the fight against the Islamic State. Merkel invited Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to detail the strategy in person.
Obama hopes to persuade the other leaders that the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq, along with efforts to train and equip Iraqi security forces, will succeed in pushing back the militants. None of the allies are interested in sending ground troops.
As Obama and Merkel stroll, however, the issue of U.S. covert operations and electronic surveillance in Germany will continue to linger in the background.
Recent reports about Germany’s intelligence agency, its close cooperation with U.S. intelligence and its collection of information on German companies have raised concerns in the German public, threatening Merkel’s popularity, said Heather Conley at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
But with his own interests at stake, Obama needs to ease the friendship past the rocky patch.