German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds the annual summer news conference in Berlin, Germany, July 20, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Transatlantic relations are going through a rocky patch, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, but she added that it was not the first difficult period they had experienced and she expressed the hope that they would yet recover.

“The U.S. is an important partner who from our point of view does not always pursue policies on which we have the same opinion, as shown by the history of the transatlantic relationship, in which there were many conflicts,” Merkel told a news conference.

“But I hope that we can find the strength to take things further,” she added.