BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on the phone on Thursday about arms deliveries to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the German leaders told Reuters. Merz initiated the call with Trump, the spokesperson said on Friday. Spiegel magazine first reported on the call.

While the US government is scaling back its military aid to Ukraine, and even halting previously promised arms shipments, the German government is intensifying its military cooperation with Kiev.

The halting of weapons shipments was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a Ukraine funding skeptic

Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, they said on Friday.

Dutch intelligence services, together with German intelligence, have found that Russia is systematically escalating the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces, the Netherlands Military Intelligence (MIVD) reported on July 4.