German Foreign Minister says ties with United States in difficult phase

Berlin: Relations between Berlin and Washington are in a difficult phase but the United States is "bigger and better" than the current spat shows and ties will improve again, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday.

"It is true that we have a difficult situation in relations between the United States and Germany," Gabriel said. "But the United States are older and bigger than the current conflict and so I think we will return to good relations in the future."

"Things are getting trivialised now. I think it is inappropriate that we are now communicating with each other between a beer tent and Twitter," Gabriel added in Berlin.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told her Bavarian allies in a beer tent in Munich on Sunday that Europe could no longer completely rely on its allies. U.S. President Donald Trump responded by criticising Germany via Twitter earlier on Tuesday.