Trump-Zelenskiy clash was 'manufactured escalation', says Germany's likely next leader

BERLIN, March 3 (Reuters) - A clash between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House was a "manufactured escalation", Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.

"It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskiy, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office," Merz told a news conference in Hamburg.

Merz, who is seeking to form a coalition after his conservatives won a snap election last month, said that Europe was now under pressure to act quickly.

"We must now show that we are in a position to act independently in Europe," he said.