PM meetings in Berlin: 18 November 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May met with a number of world leaders in Berlin and also had a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Merkel of Germany.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
This morning, the Prime Minister met with Chancellor Merkel, President Obama, President Hollande, Prime Minister Renzi and Prime Minister Rajoy for talks on the most pressing global challenges we face.
The discussion began with the situation in Syria. They condemned the current offensive on Aleppo, Idlib, Homs and other places by the Syrian regime and its supporters and stressed the importance of humanitarian access. They agreed to keep up the pressure on Russia, including the option of further sanctions against those who are responsible for breaching international humanitarian law and reiterated the need for a political solution to the conflict.
On Daesh, leaders welcomed the coalition’s continued progress in Iraq and Syria, noting the efforts of the Iraqi security forces to liberate Mosul and the need to ensure stability once this has been achieved.
They also discussed Libya, emphasising their support for the strengthening of the Government of National Accord. They agreed on the importance of working with Libyan partners to tackle the threats from Daesh and from the criminal smuggling networks.
The Prime Minister led the discussion on migration, setting out the need for a new global approach to respond to the mass movement of people that is taking place. There was consensus on the need to do more to tackle the root causes of migration and to galvanise the international response, including through the Italian Presidency of the G7 and German G20 Presidency next year.
Finally, on Ukraine, leaders agreed that sanctions should remain in place until the Minsk agreement is implemented in full.
This afternoon, the Prime Minister and Chancellor Merkel held bilateral talks for over an hour. They agreed that we should seek ways to strengthen the links between the people of the UK and Germany, both while we remain in the EU and once the UK has left.
Following on from the morning meeting, they agreed on the enduring importance of the transatlantic relationship and looked forward to their future co-operation with President-elect Donald Trump on the range of global challenges.
They discussed further the need to support effective governance in Libya to enable greater co-operation to reduce the flow of migrants through Libya and across the central Mediterranean. They also agreed on the importance of stepping up efforts with partner countries, particularly in Africa, to address the root causes of migration.
On Brexit, the Prime Minister updated Chancellor Merkel on the UK’s preparations and reiterated that we will trigger Article 50 by the end of March.