Secretary of state calls the US ‘a child of Europe’ and urges continent to back a new world order

• Munich security conference live: Europe must be ready to fight Russia as ‘warning signs are there’, says Starmer

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has described America as “a child of Europe” and made an emotional but highly conditional offer of a new partnership, insisting the two continents belong together.

In a much-anticipated speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, he said the US was intent on building a new world order, adding “while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe”. The US and Europe, he said “belong together”.

German chancellor rebuts idea of American unilateralism and says ‘democracies have partners and allies’

The US acting alone has reached the limits of its power and may already have lost its role as global leader, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, warned Donald Trump at the opening of the Munich Security Conference.

Merz also disclosed he had held initial talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, over the possibility of joining France’s nuclear umbrella, underlining his call for Europe to develop a stronger self-standing security strategy.