Obama, Merkel meet to discuss Afghanistan, climate change

Nov 3, 2009, 14:00 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Tuesday to discuss the war in Afghanistan and ongoing negotiations to produce an international climate change pact.

Merkel met with Obama for the first time since her re-election in September and as the Obama administration conducts a comprehensive review in Afghanistan, where the war remains deeply unpopular in Germany and increasingly so in the United States.

'Germany has been an extraordinary strong ally on a whole host of international issues,' Obama said in brief remarks to reporters. 'We appreciate the sacrifices of German soldiers in Afghanistan.'

The United States and European Union as well as other major powers have been in discussions to establish a climate change agreement ahead of a UN meeting in Copenhagen in December.

Merkel has been one of the leading advocates for an agreement to rein in global warming. Obama has endorsed reaching an agreement as well, but has not gone as far as Merkel would like for greater reductions in the greenhouse gases blamed for warming.

Merkel is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress later Tuesday, a rare occasion granted to a foreign leader. She is expected to discuss the role the United States played in backing a re-unified Germany. He visit in Washington precedes the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which took place on November 9, 1989.

'We are forever grateful to the American people,' she said.

During her meeting with Obama, Merkel expressed her gratitude for America's support for reuniting Germany. Merkel grew up in the former East Germany. Her meeting with Obama took place on the sidelines of the EU-US summit.