German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has urged world leaders not to let the world order disintegrate into a "den of robbers" where the unscrupulous take what they want.

Axar.az, citing The Independent, reports that in unusually strong remarks, which appeared to refer to the ousting of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, the former foreign minister criticised the U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and said global democracy was being attacked as never before.

Although the German president's role is largely ceremonial, his words carry some weight, and he has more freedom to express views than politicians.

Describing Russia's annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a watershed, Steinmeier said the U.S. behaviour represented a second historic rupture.