BERLIN, March 30, /ITAR-TASS/. Contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a situation like the crisis around Ukraine are “worth their weight in gold,” Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday in an interview with Germany’s public-service television broadcaster ZDF.

“Merkel’s role is rather big, taking into account the constructive and rather open relations with Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Since the very beginning of the crisis, the two [leaders\ have been maintaining constant dialogue, and such frequent contacts make it possible at least to bring their positions closer. In such acute situation, such contacts are worth their weight in gold. It is a secret to no one that the positions on the Ukrainian crisis are different but the dialogue is extremely useful and we hope this dialogue will be continued.”

Peskov characterized this dialogue as “constructive on the one hand, but rather difficult on the other hand.” Interaction between state figures, in his words, stems from the interests of their countries, since each of them seeks to defend the positions of his or her state.

When asked whether the Russian president was ready to meet with the German chancellor, Peskov noted, “We do not know as of yet.” “Previous plans provided for contacts in various formats, currently talks are underway at the expert level,” he said, adding that the Russian side wanted to continue the direct dialogue. “As it was said during a meeting with Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, it is better to speak to each other than to speak about each other,” Peskov stressed.