MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s visit to Russia was aimed at comparing the two countries’ positions on a wide range of issues, Deputy Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Europe Vladislav Belov told TASS.
According to him, the German top diplomat’s trip could be viewed as part of preparations for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Russia. "It was necessary to compare positions in order to figure out if anything needs to be stepped up," the expert said. "It was important for Baerbock to establish contact with both the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers (the German top diplomat visited Kiev on January 17 - TASS). And she did it," Belov added.
"Clearly, there were no plans to make any agreements at these meetings. It’s not her level," the analyst went on to say. "The minister did not bring anything from Kiev, except Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba’s formal statements about willingness to promote the Normandy Four platform, which actually don’t mean anything," he said.
"The meeting (between Baerbock and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov) was largely positive. There were no mutual accusations," the expert emphasized. "Germany stressed that there was no alternative to stable ties between Berlin and Moscow, regardless of the two countries' differences on a number of issues," Belov noted. In particular, Germany plans to cooperate with Russia on energy security and renewables. According to the expert, the green agenda is an important area for cooperation with Moscow.