German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas smiles prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas smiles prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister says President Donald Trump’s walking back of comments on whether Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election “doesn’t appear particularly convincing.”

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview Wednesday with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland newspaper group that Western intelligence services’ information is “carefully processed and extremely important for our work.”

Asked to assess Trump’s reversal of remarks that called into question U.S. intelligence findings of Russian meddling, Maas was quoted as saying, “This is apparently an attempt at damage limitation. It doesn’t appear particularly convincing.”

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He added that the U.S. leader’s “attacks on the European Union, which Trump has described as a foe, unfortunately are still on the table. Trump’s European trip overall showed that his behavior is a big challenge for diplomacy.”