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German politician says Berlin interested in reviving Russia-US dialogue on military crises

A German politician says Berlin wants to maintain close partnership with Washington

© EPA/RAINER JENSEN

BERLIN, March 6. /TASS/. The reopening of negotiation channels between Russia and the US to tackle military crises would meet German interests, Jurgen Hardt, Coordinator of Germany’s Trans-Atlantic Relations, said in an interview with TASS on Monday.

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"By and large, I would only welcome it if Russia and the US restored safe channels for negotiations. We would be interested to see these talks contributing to the search for a political settlement to heated conflicts, for example in Syria or in Ukraine," the German politician stated.

He said, however, that he could not forecast how exactly this process will end given the present conditions. "As for relations (of the US) with Russia, we must wait. It is precisely against the background of ongoing destabilization in eastern Ukraine that American rhetoric has become clearer in the past days, as it seems to me," explained Jurgen Hardt, who is also foreign policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

The German government is looking forward to an upcoming meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and new US President Donald Trump, due in Washington on March 14, expecting it to lay the grounds for cooperation.

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"I am confident that (her dialogue) will provide a basis for continuing partnership," Hardt said.

Germany has repeatedly said it seeks to maintain active relations with the United States, but on the condition of commitment to common values.

"The Federal Government and the Bundestag prioritize entering into negotiations at an early stage with some rather new and old partners, not just to get a clear picture (of the developments) but also to voice their expectations and priorities," Hardt noted.

"I got the impression that we have been rather successful in this respect over the past few weeks," he added.

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