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Putin, Merkel Met In Sochi to Discuss Ukraine, Syria

By Nazrin Gadimova May 3, 2017

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The longstanding Ukrainian crisis became one of the main themes that Merkel and Putin touched upon during the Sochi meeting and the subsequent joint press conference. / Kremlin.Ru

 Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel made a one-day visit to Russia on Tuesday to meet with President Valdimir Putin, where the two discussed tense situations in Ukraine and Syria, bilateral economic relations, and preparations for the upcoming G20 Summit, to be held in Hamburg this summer.

The conflicts ravaging eastern Ukraine were central to the meeting, which took place at Bocharov Ruchei, Putin’s summer residence in Sochi.

“I am deeply convinced that today’s Kiev authorities have missed a chance to implement Minsk agreements. Nevertheless, it is necessary to continue efforts within the framework of the Normandy format and the Minsk agreements,” Putin said at a joint press conference following the meeting and mentioning two diplomatic initiatives aimed at settling the conflict.

A war between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk, two Russian-majority provinces in eastern Ukraine that have claimed independence, resulted in the international community’s involvement to help calm tensions between Moscow in Kiev. By June 2014, representatives from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France formed what has been termed the Normandy contact group, or Normandy format, which seeks to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine.

In September 2014, and again in early 2015, the sides met in Minsk, Belarus, to agree on a package of measures to alleviate the ongoing conflict, especially in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.

“It [the Normandy format] works. If it did not exist, it would be much worse. We need to ensure that representatives of the Ukrainian government and representatives of unrecognized republics sit down at the negotiating table,” Putin said Tuesday at the joint press conference in Sochi.

Also discussed with Merkel was Syria, which has been embroiled in conflict for over six years and locked in a civil war, where forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State.

“Our task is to create conditions for unifying the disunited people of Syria, for stopping hostilities and mutual destruction, creating conditions for political interaction of all opposing forces,” Putin said of the situation, convinced that the first requirement for peace is a ceasefire. “We achieved it [a ceasefire] with our Turkish and Iranian partners within the framework of the Astana process,” Putin said, referring to talks held in Kazakhstan’s capital city in January, where Turkey, Iran, and Russia agreed to establish a tripartite mechanism for monitoring the observance of the ceasefire. “We believe the ceasefire regime should be consolidated,” Putin added. “In fact, our representatives in Astana will work on this tomorrow and the day after tomorrow together with the Syrian parties to the conflict. We will also maintain contact within the framework of the negotiating process in Geneva.”

Putin also used Tuesday’s press conference to reiterate his call for a thorough investigation of the April 4 air assault over Khan-Sheikhun, Syria, where 86 people died and chemical weapons were found to have been used. The US accused President Assad’s forces of being behind the attack, and three days later bombarded Syria’s Shayrat air base, from which the assault was supposedly launched, with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“We strongly condemn any use of chemical weapons, and those guilty of the death of peaceful Syrians must, of course, be found and punished. However, this can only be done through a thorough and impartial investigation,” Putin stressed.

The two sides also addressed bilateral economic relations. Germany remains Russia’s leading economic partner. Putin noted that from January to February of this year, bilateral trade with Germany increased by 43 percent, compared to the same period of the last year.

“Germany ranks Russian second trade partner after China. In addition, Germany is the largest buyer of Russian natural gas and deliveries from Russia cover almost 35 percent of the needs of the German market,” Putin said, adding that some difficulties still exist due to the crisis in Russia’s relations with the West.

He further expressed hope that the upcoming G20 Summit in Hamburg, scheduled for July 7 – 8, will help both countries to strengthen world economy. 

“Yes, there are still a lot of problems; yes, there are still a lot of impediments, but this is precisely what we are going to discuss within the framework of the G20 negotiating process proposed by Germany, and beyond it. The focus will most certainly be on what further action can and should be taken to eliminate impediments to global economic development, he said.”