AFP writes that Merkel and Macron will try to persuade EU leaders to resume regular meetings with Vladimir Putin. These meetings were frozen after 2014, when pro-Russian separatists in Crimea, backed by Russian forces without insignia, brought the Crimean peninsula under Russian control.
The Eastern European countries are expected to be negative to the proposal, and were surprised by the initiative, according to AFP.
Want direct contact
– It is not enough that the American president talks to the Russian president. I think we, like the European Union, must also seek to have direct contact with Russia and the Russian president, Merkel said just before Thursday’s EU summit.
– We must create mechanisms so that we can collectively respond to Russian provocations, Merkel said, adding that this is the only way the EU can “resist Russian hybrid attacks”.
French-German proposal
Germany and France have jointly proposed a plan that allows for more economic sanctions against Russia, but which also addresses the possibility of a summit between Putin and European leaders.
The Russian president is positive about the initiative for more contact, his spokesman said.
“Putin supports the creation of mechanisms for dialogue and contact between Brussels and Moscow,” said Dmitry Peskov.
skepticism
Ukraine’s foreign minister opposes the proposal, calling it “dangerous”. Several other EU countries are skeptical of the idea. Relations between the EU and Russia have deteriorated since Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Since then, there has been no summit between Putin and the EU leadership. The EU has also imposed a number of sanctions on Russia, which has responded with countermeasures.
Merkel’s speech was probably her sister’s government report to the Bundestag before she resigns as prime minister. She announced in 2018 that she would resign after the election in September. Merkel, who turns 67 next month, has led Germany for 16 years.
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