Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated late Sunday that "the United States is and will remain Germany's most important partner" within NATO. His remarks were made on the US social media platform X, where he emphasized the shared objective between the two nations: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

According to Anadolu Agency, Merz's comments come during a period of strained relations between Washington and Berlin. The tension escalated after Merz criticized the US for what he described as a lack of an 'exit strategy' in the Iran conflict and claimed that the US was 'humiliated' by the Iranian regime during negotiations.

Merz further noted that the United States would not be deploying Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany for the foreseeable future. He clarified that this decision was unrelated to his earlier criticism of President Donald Trump. "The Americans don't have enough for themselves right now. Objectively speaking, there is virtually no possibility of the US supplying weapons systems of this kind," Merz explained in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.

This development follows President Trump's announcement on Saturday regarding plans to reduce the US troop presence in Germany. Trump stated that the reduction would be more significant than the previously mentioned 5,000 troops, signaling a substantial scaling back of forces in the country.