MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/. Russia is closely following Germany's elections and hopes for the continuity of Berlin's policy in bilateral relations, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Monday.
"It goes without saying that the elections in Europe's largest country are a process, an event that rivets the attention of the whole world. We, too, have been watching with great attention what is happening and what the results are. It goes without saying that we hope for continuity in our bilateral relations," he stressed.
Peskov stressed that both Moscow and Berlin were aware that problems must be resolved through dialogue.
"We are not free from disagreement, but we share the understanding that problems can and must be resolved through dialogue," he said.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed that Russia was interested in developing economic relations with Germany.
"Germany, of course, is our very large trading, economic and investment partner. We are very much interested to see these relations continue and develop further," Peskov said.
"We are aware that the process of creating a coalition will be long and complicated. Let us wait and see," Peskov concluded.
Germany's elections
Germany held parliamentary elections on Sunday. According to early results, the Social Democratic Party won the most votes, garnering 25.7% overall. The conservatives were supported by 24.1%, which is their worst ever result. Mathematically, these two parties could have teamed up to form a coalition, but the SDP's candidate for the chancellorship, Olaf Scholz, has for the first time openly ruled out such a possibility.
Preliminary talks by parties on the makeup of a future government will begin within days. It remains to be seen who will participate in them. The party that has won the most votes will hold the talks and decide on who will be invited into a future Cabinet. There have been no official announcements yet about who might participate in the process.
After the 2017 elections, coalition talks lasted for 172 days.