German president plans to discuss restoring mutual trust during visit to Russia
"We cannot afford ignoring each other," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said
MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to discuss ways to restore trust between Moscow and Berlin during his visit to Russia scheduled for Wednesday.
‘I would be glad if my meeting with the Russian president gives us an opportunity to understand whether there are any perspectives for restoring the trust between our nations, and to find out ways of doing this," the German official said in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant daily.
"The negative spiral in relations between Russia and the European Union that we have been witnessing in recent years is harmful for both sides and carries serous potential risks for the future," he went on.
"The dialogue about the reasons for our estrangement is important," Steinmeier said. "Among other issues, it is important to identify reasons that created the current state of affairs. At the same time, we should not stay silent about the existing differences, we need to articulate them clearly."
"I intend to call for a more constructive, more predictable and more peaceful approach to our differences than it used to be in past years," the German official said.
Steinmeier said that that Russian-German relations are important both on the top level and on the level of ordinary citizens.
"We cannot afford ignoring each other. It is our duty to prevent further alienation between Germans and Russians," he added.