Germany Urges Diplomatic End to War, Reacts to Trump's Naval Plan

Ackermann, while talking to ANI on Tuesday, said that Germany wants the warring parties to get to the diplomatic table.

He said, "We want this war to end sooner rather than later. I think we have a very strong desire to see this war end because it has a direct impact on us, and therefore, we plead for diplomatic initiatives and diplomatic means to end this war as quickly as possible. That's the way forward."

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that while there would be "no military participation" from his country, it was prepared to support diplomatic efforts "to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz," as per Al Jazeera.

"This is not our war. We have not started it," said Pistorius. "What does ... Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy cannot do?" as reported by Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, a number of EU countries joined Germany in reacting with scepticism to Trump's call on Sunday (local time) for a naval coalition to deploy warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil shipments transit.

Earlier in the day, while participating in a bilateral meeting with Micheal Martin Taoiseach of Ireland, Trump said that he was disappointed with NATO.

He said, "I'm disappointed in NATO, very disappointed. I'm disappointed in a couple of other countries too, but they should be very thankful that this group of people feels the way we do. Because if a country like Iran was allowed to have the power of a nuclear weapon, if we didn't stop them. I stopped them twice. I stopped them my first term when I terminated the Iran nuclear deal which was Barack Obama's deal."

- ANI