On a farewell visit to Moscow, Merkel calls for Navalny's release
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are preparing to hold their press conference following their talks in the Kremlin on August 20, 2021. via REUTERS - POOL
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Last trip to Russia for the German Chancellor who will step down from power in the fall.
Angela Merkel came to say goodbye to Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The occasion, for her, to plead for the continuation of the dialogue with Russia and to demand the release of the opponent Alexeï Navalny.
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During her last press conference with Vladimir Putin, the Chancellor did not hide the tensions that exist between the two countries, between the annexation of Crimea, the Navalny affair, the sabotage of the computer system of the Bundestag, the Parliament German Federal, by Russian hackers.
But for Angela Merkel, dialogue remains in order despite the "
deep differences
" that exist between the two countries.
"
I am deeply convinced that we must keep the channels of discussion open and that we must continue to exchange even when political systems diverge,
" she said.
The current situation in the world shows it. This is also what the history of relations between Germany and Russia shows, which is marked by tragic lows but also by good aspects
. "
“
Overall, I have to say, during my years in the Chancellery, the political systems of Russia and Germany have certainly drifted even further apart,
” she continued.
This means that we have a lot of critical issues to address but I am very happy that the chat channel has always remained open.
despite big differences between us.
We have even sometimes shaken things up a bit, although there is still a lot to do.
In any case, the absence of dialogue is not an option for me and I will continue to say it.
"
Liberation of Navalny
From the start of their joint press conference, the Chancellor underlined "
the tragic situation
" of
Alexeï Navalny
, imprisoned for fraud in a case widely considered to be political repression. Words that also come a year to the day after the poisoning, attributed to the Russian authorities, of the Russian opponent to whom Merkel's Germany saved his life by treating him.
"
Once again, I demanded from the Russian President the release of Alexei Navalny and I clearly said that we would continue,
" said the Chancellor.
Vladimir Poutine opposed him to an end of inadmissibility, assuring that his adversary was not detained "
for his political activities
", but for "
a criminal offense
".
Vladimir Putin did not mention the poisoning of the opponent, while the Germany who treated him established that he had been poisoned by a Soviet military product, Novichok.
Russians and Europeans, Germans in the lead, crossed swords on the file concerning the opponent and multiplied the sanctions and counter-sanctions.
But the Chancellor also insisted that the dialogue should continue.
"
We are talking to each other and it must continue like this,
" she noted.
New Washington and London sanctions
London and Washington announced on Friday evening new sanctions against senior officials of the Russian security services for their alleged role in the poisoning of the opponent. The British Foreign Office targeted seven people, identified as members of the Russian Security Services (FSB). These individuals are hit by travel bans and the freezing of their assets. Measures "
taken alongside our American allies
," the ministry said in a statement.
The US Treasury said in a separate statement that nine senior officials and two scientific laboratories were targeted in total by this third wave of US sanctions.
The State Department in Washington designated "
two scientific laboratories of the Russian Defense Ministry which are engaged in activities aimed at developing Russia's chemical weapons capabilities
," the Treasury explained.
Putin calls for avoiding collapse of Afghanistan
The Russian president, who presented a bouquet of flowers to Angela Merkel, praised their "
still professional relations
" and her "
compromise
"
efforts
.
On Afghanistan, the big issue of the moment, Vladimir Putin spoke for the first time since the conquest of the country by the Taliban.
For him, their conquest is a "
reality from which we must start to avoid the collapse of Afghanistan
."
We must stop this desire to build democracy in other countries according to foreign models.
"
►
To read also: Afghanistan: the Russian ambassador will meet the Taliban in Kabul
Ukraine: "
keep
the peace negotiations
alive
"
In addition to Afghanistan and the case of Alexey Navalny, the two leaders also raised the thorny issue of
Ukraine
.
The Chancellor felt that it was necessary to "
keep alive
" the peace negotiations in eastern Ukraine, despite their slowness against a background of deep Russian-Ukrainian tensions.
"
I advise to keep trying to keep this format alive and that it does not end up deadlocked,
" she said, even "
if the advances are not as fast as we hoped
" .
"
There is no other instrument to achieve peace,
" insisted the Russian president, who accuses Ukraine of sabotaging the talks.
Kiev in turn accuses Moscow of misleading the negotiations by its unacknowledged but obvious military support for pro-Russian separatists.
The conflict began in 2014 after the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea by Moscow.
On this subject, the Chancellor informed Putin that she would continue "to
work for (the preservation of) the territorial integrity of Ukraine until the last day of her mandate
".
But behind the angry subjects, Angela Merkel also has points of convergence with Russia.
The two veterans have thus imposed on the United States, on suspicious Europeans and on Ukraine a submarine gas pipeline,
Nord-Stream 2
which will increase the supply of Russian gas to Germany and Europe for the decades to come.
And they insisted again on Friday on the usefulness of the tube, which must be completed in the days or weeks to come, marginalizing the Ukrainian role in gas transit and removing a source of income from Kiev.
(With
AFP
)
►
To read also: Angela Merkel in Moscow: the stakes of a last visit to Putin
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Germany
Angela Merkel
Russia
Vladimir Poutine
Diplomacy