President Joe Biden has declared the "transatlantic alliance is back" in a powerful speech seeking to reestablish the United States as leader of the West against what he called a global assault on democracy.
The address to the annual Munich Security Conference on Friday – held by video link because of the Covid-19 pandemic – dovetailed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcoming of a return to "multilateralism" after the confrontational years of Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.
Making his first major international address on foreign policy since becoming president in January, Biden said traditional US allies should once again have confidence in Washington's leadership.
"I'm sending a clear message to the world: America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back," he said from the White House.
"The United States is determined, determined to reengage with Europe, to consult with you, earn back our position of trusted leadership," he said.