BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he would like talks with France and Britain about sharing their nuclear weapons, but not as a substitute for U.S. nuclear protection of Europe.

Europeans are reconsidering their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany.

German chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz is open to negotiations regarding the joint use of nuclear weapons between the United Kingdom and France. However, he does not rule out the protection of the United States,

By Andreas Rinke, Vera Eckert and Matthias Williams BERLIN (Reuters) -German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) concluded preliminary talks on forming a coalition government on Saturday,

Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party CDU, looks on, on the day they give a statement after coalition talks, in Berlin, Germany, March 4, 2025.

Germany’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agreed to deepen talks over forming a new government, a step forward as pressure builds on Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to implement sweeping reforms.