Angela Merkel pays first visit in two years in Russia
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun talks with President Vladimir Putin on her first visit to Russia in the last two years. The two state leaders are to discuss the war in Syria and Russia’s annexation of Crimea at Putin’s summer residence in Sochi.
Following the meeting, the Russian president will meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Of course, we cannot but take advantage of this visit and discuss bilateral relations and the most problematic points, by which I mean Ukraine, Syria and possibly some other regions,” Putin said at the start of the talks with Merkel, quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
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Ties between Russia and Germany have worsened since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, with Germany being a driving force behind the EU sanctions imposed in response.
The two leaders have met a number of times outside Russia over the past two years – most recently in October to discuss Ukraine along with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and French President Francois Hollande.
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