James Mackenzie

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul restated Berlin's support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday following US ​President Donald Trump's call for his removal and urged ‌more pressure to be put on Russia to resume peace talks.

Germany said on Saturday it would maintain sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine ​following US President Donald Trump's announcement that ‌his administration had temporarily lifted US sanctions on Russian fuel.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that Germany risked slipping back into the divisions ‌of the pre-World War Two Weimar Republic in a flood of disinformation spread by antidemocratic extremists.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz may have survived the triumph of the far right in this month's state elections in eastern Germany and Berlin but the shock to his coalition could force ​him to water down his promised reform agenda.

The far-left leader pushing to take over as mayor of Berlin promised on Monday to tackle unaffordable ​rents in the German capital, but faced early pressure to take action over accusations of antisemitism in parts of the local party.

The AfD also recorded its best-ever result in Berlin, where the far-left Left Party came first and looks set to replace Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in the mayor's office.

While the AfD ​has attracted most attention, the ⁠Left Party has benefited from a general turn against the mainstream parties.

After ​its triumph in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany's far-right AfD needs to attract defectors from other parties or reach ‌an agreement with the small far-left BSW party that is setting difficult conditions in return for its support.

Germany and the United Arab Emirates will sign investment, AI and energy deals worth several billion dollars on Thursday as part ​of a push to step up relations between the two ‌countries, one of the UAE's top diplomats said on Wednesday.

Merz was one of the targets of voter ire over cost of living, pensions and economic insecurity.