Putin, Merkel spar in Russia over election meddling

Both sides have also said the talks will cover the conflict in Syria, where Putin’s military backing for leader Bashar al-Assad has set him at odds with the West.

Russia’s President Putin confirmed that the Kremlin was committed to the so-called Minsk peace accord, but called on Kyiv to negotiate with the rebels and recognize special status for the disputed Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

Mrs Merkel urged Mr Putin to protect religious rights, too, especially those of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church, which was recentlybanned in Russian Federation for being an extremist organisation.

“Without the participation of a country such as the USA, it’s impossible to resolve this problem effectively”, Putin said after talks with Merkel in Sochi.

Before the meeting at the Black Sea resort in Sochi, Putin said the talks were an opportunity to discuss Ukraine and Syria, although Merkel signaled no major breakthroughs were expected. “But this can be only done after an impartial investigation”.

Nonetheless, she has shown herself willing to engage with “planet Putin” by flying to the Russian seaside town of Sochi for a summit with a man with whom she agrees on little.

Gernot Erler, Germany’s top Russian Federation policy official, said earlier that Merkel would reiterate Berlin’s position that sanctions against Russian Federation could be lifted swiftly if Moscow adhered to the Minsk agreements, according to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

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“We also discussed the situation in Syria”.

“And it’s clear he interfered to hurt me and help his opponent”. We are united in what concerns the fight against global terrorism. Steadying the U.S. -Russia relationship could open the way to the broader cooperation Trump promised during the campaign, when he said the world would be better off if the Cold War rivals got along.

Putin responded by saying that law enforcement agencies were working within the law and that victims had access to the justice system. He then reminded that “no one had separated Donbass from Ukraine” as it was the Ukrainian authorities that achieved that by imposing a blockade.

Merkel has been the main mediator with Putin over the crisis in Ukraine.

“We are of differing opinions about the cause of the conflict”, she said.

“I am not an anxious person, I will fight the election on the basis of my convictions”, she said at a news conference with Russia President Vladimir Putin, adding Germans would deal decisively with any cases of wrong information. “These are unsubstantiated rumors used in internal political struggle”.