1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Politics

Merkel, Putin tackle tough global topics

August 18, 2018

Chancellor Angela Merkel has received Russian President Vladimir Putin on his first bilateral visit to Germany since 2014. Their agenda listed Ukraine, Syria and piped gas for Europe but she dampened expectations.

Merkel and Putin speaking to reporters before a private meeting
Image: Reuters/A. Schmidt

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday she expected "no special" outcomes from her largely private "working meeting" with Putin at Meseberg Palace, a German state guest house an hour's drive north of Berlin.

"Controversy" was likely, Merkel said, adding her main goal was to maintain a "permanent dialogue" with Russia, despite "very serious conflicts worldwide."

Read more: German troops to spearhead NATO exercise in Norway

The two leaders had last met in Sochi in southern Russia in May.

Merkel-Putin meeting: DW's Thomas Sparrow, Emily Sherwin and Nina Haase comment on the bilateral talks.

04:23

This browser does not support the video element.

Putin on arrival in Meseberg called on Europe to assist with refugee returns and reconstruction in war-scarred Syria, where Russia backs President Bashar Assad.

Merkel responded that Syria needed constitutional reform and elections.

Next topic - Ukraine

The German chancellor said she favored the stationing of UN peacekeepers to oversee ceasefire bids in eastern Ukraine under German and French mediation.

But, according to Putin, there had been "absolutely no progress" for the region where Russia backs Ukrainian separatists, and in 2014 annexed Crimea.

Winter fuel for Europe

On Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe, Putin said he did not exclude the possibility that Ukraine could still earn from existing transit pipes once a new Baltic Sea project was completed next year.

"The main thing is that this transit through Ukraine, which has tradition, meets economic requirements," Putin said.

Nordstream 2 will carry gas from Russia along the seabed directly to Germany, but Washington has warned that Europe will be too dependent on Russia.

Merkel said, from her point of view, Ukraine must still play a role in gas transits to Europe "even when Nordstream 2 exists."

EU sanctions ineffective?

Putin, without referring to EU sanctions — like similar American clamps — on Russia, said Germany remained a "leading" trade partner and had some 5,000 firms, providing 270,000 jobs in Russia.

He claimed bilateral Russian-German trade volume had grown by 22 percent over the past year, with German investments in Russia amounting to $18 billion (€16 billion).

ipj/ng (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

Skip next section Explore more
Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW