BRUSSELS - Europe is strong enough to pursue its own interests in trade talks with the United States, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday after a meeting with fellow EU leaders.

"The European Union is strong. We have every opportunity to make sure we can look after our own interests," Scholz said.

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"And that is also a message to the United States, which at the same time is connected to us through an outstretched hand."

Scholz also praised Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for winning breathing room from US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs.

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"The Mexican president is a smart politician," he said. "She played it cool."

The German chancellor also acknowledged problems in the common EU defense policy such as fragmentation and the absence of large common defense programs.

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"That has to change and that is why we have to change the way of purchasing," he said.

He also commented on Trump's latest demand for Ukraine to provide the US with rare earths in exchange for more aid by saying "it would be very selfish, very self-centered".

Such resources would be better used for the country's reconstruction after the war, Scholz added.