Chancellor Merkel is in the White House on Thursday. Foreign Minister Maas, on the other hand, stays away from the US capital on his trip to the USA.
Shortly before Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) visited Washington, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) set out on a three-day trip to the USA on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, he first wanted to stop off in the former industrial metropolis of Detroit in the north-east of the country and visit a production facility of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer nearby. Pfizer works with the German company Biontech in the production of corona vaccines.
Before his departure, Maas again emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the distribution of vaccines. “Without global solidarity in vaccine distribution, Delta will not have been the last variant that we have to defeat,” he said.
He did not respond to the dispute over the suspension of patent protection for vaccines. The US is committed to it, Merkel is strictly against it. Maas had recently shown himself to be open to discussions about it.
On Tuesday evening, the Foreign Minister will travel to New York, where he will take part in a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Libya conflict on Thursday. Germany plays a mediating role in this.
Only three weeks ago Maas had organized a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin together with the United Nations, at which the aim was once again to end outside interference in the conflict. “We need international actors to work together here and a withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries and soldiers,” Maas emphasized before his departure.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had combined the Libya meeting with his inaugural visit to Berlin. That is one reason why Maas does not stop in Washington on his trip.
Instead, Chancellor Merkel set off for the US capital on Wednesday to meet US President Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday. She is also awarded an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

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