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Russia not to cut its ties with Germany — Putin

"Germany in the first among all European countries. I hope that problems will pass and we will continue developing our relations. We are ready for it," Russian president said

ST.PETERSBURG, June 19 /TASS/. Russia does not plan to cut its ties with Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

"We are not planning to cut or break /these trade and economic ties/," Putin said.

"We feel that the German business does not want that. We have good, reliable and long-standing relations, and we will do everything to preserve and develop them in the interests of Russia, in the interests of Germany, in the interests of the European continent and the world economy," Putin said adding he was sure that German businessmen thought the same.

The Russian leader said that Europe remained Russia’s leading trading partner despite a considerable fall in reciprocal trade.

"Germany in the first among all European countries. I hope that problems will pass and we will continue developing our relations. We are ready for it," Putin said.

The president called special attention to the fact that future relations with any country do not depend exclusively on Russia. It is a reciprocal process, which cannot be solved positively only by unilateral actions.

Putin said that Russia wanted to develop relations with Germany. According to him, none of the 6,200 German enterprises that operate in the Russian market has stopped its activities in Russia at the time of crisis. Moreover, new enterprises are opening in Russia, and German companies are actively involved in this process.