Welcome
Strengthening the transatlantic partnership: visit by Foreign Minister Wadephul to the United States
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his first official visit to Washington in May 2025 © Photothek Media Lab
Foreign Minister Wadephul is travelling to Washington DC today for talks with US Secretary of State Rubio. The focus will be on German-US relations and on strengthening transatlantic cooperation. On the journey to the US, Foreign Minister Wadephul will also visit his counterpart in Iceland.
Following his first official visit to Washington in May 2025 and his participation in the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is travelling to the United States today (11 January) for the third time. He will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and members of the US Congress in Washington on Monday (12 January). The Foreign Minister will then travel on to New York for talks with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. On the journey to the United States, Foreign Minister Wadephul will also visit Reykjavik to meet his Icelandic counterpart.
Responsibility for Ukraine and a stable international order
Germany and the United States are not only close partners as regards bilateral relations, but also in numerous multilateral formats, especially the joint defence alliance NATO. Multilateral formats are the cornerstone of a rules-based, stable global order, which has created reliability for decades. Germany is doing its utmost to continue guaranteeing this stability.
Prior to his departure, Foreign Minister Wadephul stated:
This summer, the United States will celebrate 250 years of independence. That reminds me how strongly we are bound by the idea of freedom and self-determination. Germany owes a great deal to this long democratic tradition upheld by the US and to its efforts for peace and security. Never before has it been so important to invest in the transatlantic partnership, so that – in the face of global upheaval – we can remain capable of shaping the world order.
Foreign Minister Wadephul will also discuss progress in the Ukraine peace talks with Secretary of State Rubio. Germany and the United States are working tirelessly to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s war of aggression and to ensure a long-term ceasefire and lasting peace. Just last week, the Coalition of the Willing met in Paris to discuss important steps in the talks, in particular the creation of robust security guarantees for Ukraine which are vital for long-term stability in Europe.
Foreign Minister Wadephul commented as follows on this subject;
We are challenged by concurrent crises and wars, above all Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which threatens our security across the entire Euro-Atlantic area. An effective response to existential questions is only possible when we work together within our Alliance. We are therefore liaising closely within NATO and together ensuring greater security – on both sides of the Atlantic. And last summer, we committed to collectively meeting the 5-percent goal within NATO. Germany is taking resolute action to progress towards this goal.
It is crucial that we Europeans and Americans work together on continuing the transatlantic security architecture in order to defend our values and safeguard the global order.
Talks with members of the US Congress and the United Nations
In addition to the bilateral talks with Secretary of State Rubio, Foreign Minister Wadephul will meet further leading politicians in Washington. Among other things, talks are planned with members of the US Congress, with the aim of further deepening the partnership between Germany and the US.
Afterwards, Foreign Minister Wadephul will travel to New York, where he will meet the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. In view of the large number of global crises and the increasing pressure on the international order, Germany is urging the United States, among other countries, to strengthen the role of the United Nations as the central body of the international community.
Prior to his departure, Foreign Minister Wadephul said:
For more than eight decades, the rules-based international order has brought us peace, stability and prosperity. This is especially true of the US and Germany. The key to this is dependability. Because dependability is the foundation for security, for trade and for investment – in Europe as in America. For Germany, dependability as an international partner thus very clearly includes a commitment to international law and international cooperation.
Iceland as an important partner in the North Atlantic
On his way to the United States, Foreign Minister Wadephul will visit Reykjavik, where he will meet Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir for talks, following their recent meeting in Berlin in December 2025.
Foreign Minister Wadephul underlined the following prior to his departure:
With security in the Arctic becoming increasingly important, too, I also want to discuss during my trip how we can best shoulder this responsibility together within NATO, in light of old and new rivalries in the region due to Russia and China. We want to discuss this together within NATO. In doing so, we must ensure that the legitimate interests of all NATO members as well as those of the region’s inhabitants are at the forefront of our considerations. This naturally also applies to Greenland and its people. I will discuss the particular strategic challenges in the High North with my Icelandic counterpart Þorgerður Gunnarsdóttir during my visit to Reykjavik today.
The close cooperation between Germany and Iceland, both bilaterally and in NATO, is of great importance for security in the North Atlantic. Particular at a time of geopolitical tensions, such as those resulting from the war in Ukraine and the increasing challenges in the global security environment, it is important to be able to count on reliable partners such as Iceland.