(Bloomberg) --

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the work of the World Health Organization on a conference call with President Donald Trump and the rest of the Group of Seven leaders.

The leaders spoke Thursday as some prepare to begin easing restrictions aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The chancellor made clear that the pandemic can only be defeated with a strong and coordinated international response,” her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said afterward in a statement. “In this context, she expressed full support for the WHO as well as a number of other partners.”

But in its own statement on the call, the White House said the G-7 leaders agreed that the WHO needs “a thorough review and reform process.”

“Much of the conversation centered on the lack of transparency and chronic mismanagement of the pandemic by the WHO,” the White House said in its statement.

Germany’s foreign minister said separately that the organization’s funding should be increased.

Trump, the host of this year’s G-7, said Tuesday that he’s temporarily halting funding to the WHO, alleging the UN agency took China’s claims about the coronavirus “at face value” and failed to share information about the pandemic as it spread.

Reopening Talk

The G-7, which is skipping the conventional in-person leaders’ summit this year, offers a snapshot of how countries are grappling with the dilemma of when to ease restrictions. Move too fast and they risk a second wave of infections.

Facing re-election in the fall, Trump has said he’s anxious to reopen the world’s largest economy as soon as it’s safe to do so. He’ll release guidelines later Thursday on how certain states can reopen.

The White House said the G-7 leaders also agreed to direct their governments “to work together to prepare all G-7 economies to reopen safely and on a foundation that will allow the G-7 nations to reestablish economic growth with more resilient health systems and trusted supply chains.”

In Germany, Merkel has started the slow process of easing restrictions, though some limits are set to remain for months.

“I think we all recognized on the call how important it is to coordinate and collaborate,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. Canada supports international efforts to develop a vaccine and help developing countries with aid such as debt relief, he said.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is considering plans to ease restrictions, while French President Emmanuel Macron has extended his and said the country was underprepared. The U.K. has also extended its nationwide lockdown and Japan is doing the same, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s support sags. Trudeau warned restrictions could last for weeks.

‘Cannot be Weakened’

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who earlier Thursday joined a conference call with counterparts as part of an “alliance for multilateralism,” was more critical of Trump’s move against the WHO. He said the agency’s financial resources should be increased.

The WHO “cannot be weakened or in any way be called into question politically” during the pandemic, Maas said in a statement in Berlin, warning that authoritarian regimes will fill voids left by the U.S.

“Every inch that the U.S. withdraws from the wider world, especially at this level, is space that will be occupied by others –- and that tends to be those that don’t share our values of liberal democracy,” Maas said. “So this cannot be in our interests.”

Maas said Germany was already considering raising its contribution to the WHO, but that diverting resources to compensate for the U.S. withdrawal would send the “wrong message.”

(Updates with comments from German foreign minister, Canadian prime minister)

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