MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Dialogue between Moscow and Berlin is important for international affairs, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev said, welcoming the Saturday talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Yesterday’s Russian-German meeting in Berlin is undoubtedly a global event and not just talks between the two countries’ leaders… It received no less attention than the recent Russian-US summit," Kosachev wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, he noted that all eyes were on the meeting not because it was unique in its nature - as was the case with the meeting between Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump - or because its results had been hard to predict, since almost all analysts had said no breakthrough agreements could be made.
"The matter is that Russian-German dialogue is as important for international affairs as contacts between Moscow and Washington, if not more. The global agenda has been radically changing - though the issues on the agenda remain the same, approaches to them are growing more and more diverse," the senior Russian senator pointed out.
Hard times
According to Kosachev, the situation is more difficult now than it was in the times of the Cold War and in the three decades that followed, "as far as the attitude towards international law, the view of alliance obligations and the transatlantic solidarity goes, at least."
"Under these conditions, Russian-German relations are not the only thing that will depend on whether Moscow and Berlin will be able to understand each other better. And already does depend. The Berlin meeting came at a time when the two countries’ interests coincide more than before," Kosachev noted.
He also said that both Russia and Germany were interested in implementing the Nord Stream 2 project and ensuring stable Russian gas supplies to Europe, including the use of the Ukrainian transit. Besides, both countries are concerned about the possible effect US sanctions may have on economic cooperation between Russia and the European Union. In addition, both Russia and Germany have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria and fear that the destruction of the Iran nuclear deal will trigger tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
"The two countries still view many issues - at least the Ukrainian conflict - differently. We will find out in the near future how close they managed to bring their positions - it will be possible to draw conclusions from whether the European Union will increase pressure on Kiev, seeking to make it implement the Minsk Agreements, or continue its political dance in this field," the Russian senator said.
In Kosachev’s view, a lot of "thorns" still remain in Russian-German relationship but the recent talks are encouraging as they were thorough and timely. In this regard, he pointed out that the two leaders had discussed "all major global issues." Besides, in Kosachev’s words, the leaders of Russia and Germany both believe that it is important to facilitate dialogue between business circles, as well as between civic societies.
The senator added that such cooperation "is some kind of a guarantee against sharp turns in bilateral relations, which we would like to avoid.".