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Putin, Merkel discuss topics of forthcoming G20 summit

Putin and Merkel also touched upon issues of the Paris agreement on climate change and a number of aspects of bilateral cooperation

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed topics of the forthcoming Group of Twenty summit, the Kremlin press service said on Friday.

"Ahead of the Group of Twenty summit in Hamburg (July 7-8, 2017), the leaders discussed key topics of the forum’s agenda," the press service said.

Apart from that, Putin and Merkel touched upon issues of the Paris agreement on climate change and a number of aspects of bilateral cooperation.

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The conversation was initiated by the German side.

Earlier, Russia’s G20 Sherpa, Svetlana Lukash, said that ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg Germany’s presidency in the Group of Twenty was still agreeing the Group’s common position on climate change in the light of US’ recent decision to withdraw from the Paris deal. She also said that climate change will be among top priority issues during the leaders’ discussions.

Paris climate deal

The Paris agreement on climate change was adopted on December 12, 2015, following a conference in the French capital. A total of 195 participants in the forum agreed on preventing average temperatures on Earth from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 compared to the pre-industrial epoch.

By now, twenty-six countries have ratified the deal. On June 1, 2017, US President Donald Trump announced about the US decision to quit the agreement.

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Vladimir Putin Angela Merkel

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