Some U.S. lawmakers do not understand the scale of Russia's rearmament campaign, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, a day after he held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, even as Germany's new chancellor appealed to him as the "key person in the world" who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin.