The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has urged US President Donald Trump to pull back from a potential trade war threatened with the introduction of steel tariffs last week. Speaking in Helsinki, Tusk had a clear message for the US.
"Make trade, not war, Mr President," said Tusk, following discussions with Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipilä.
Sipilä agreed, expressing the view that tariffs are a short-sighted trade policy.
"In this context Mr Trump has stressed that 'real friends' will be excluded from the proposed measures," said Tusk. "I would like to stress today that the free world has survived the most difficult decades only because of the fact that Europeans and Americans have been real friends. So let us cherish this relationship, not challenge it."
Tusk also offered his support to Britain following last week's nerve agent attack, and said EU heads of government would consider their response next week.
"Irrespective of Brexit and the tough negotiations, I would like to express my full solidarity with the Prime Minister Theresa May in the face of the brutal attack which was inspired most likely by Moscow," said Tusk.
On Monday Finland's EU Commissioner Jyrki Katainen had also slammed Trump's plan, suggesting that steel tariffs would breach global trade rules.