Angela Merkel Arrived in Moscow for Talks with Putin

FRG Chancellor's visit to Moscow will last several hours, the negotiations will possibly be focused on the situation in Afghanistan and Belarus, the fate of Nord Stream 2, the investigation into the poisoning of Navalny. Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel (Angela Merkel) on Friday, August 20, arrived in Moscow on a short-term official visit to hold her last talks in her current status with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The previous meeting of the leaders of the two countries took place in January 2020. Immediately from the Vnukovo government airport, the motorcade of the head of the German government headed to the center of Moscow, where Merkel laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin wall. The talks between the leaders of Germany and Russia are expected to last about two hours. A joint press conference between Merkel and Putin is scheduled for 17:30, after which the German Chancellor will immediately fly back to Berlin. Busy agenda of Merkel's visit to Moscow At the beginning of a meeting in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the head of the German government expressed her support for further dialogue with Moscow, despite significant differences in views. “I am glad that we can meet in the Kremlin as part of, perhaps, a farewell, but at the same time a working visit,” the chancellor said. “Even if we have deep disagreements now, we talk to each other and this should be so in the future, and this should define and distinguish German-Russian relations." In turn, Vladimir Putin said that the current visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Russia will be not only farewell, but also filled with serious content. "We are constantly in telephone contact. We have many questions that require discussion in a personal format. So I am sure that this will not only be a farewell visit associated with your decision not to be elected further as Federal Chancellor, but also a visit filled with serious business content", the President of the Russian Federation said. Earlier, the official representative of the German government Steffen Seibert (Steffen Seibert) said that the program of Merkel's visit to Russia "is very tight, concentrated on communication with the Russian president." It is expected that within the framework of the international agenda, politicians will discuss the aftermath of Afghanistan's seizure by the radical Taliban movement, as well as the Minsk agreements implementation on the Donbass, where the situation remains critical and political aspects of the agreement are in fact not implemented. In addition, discussion will be focused on the further fate of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline and Russia's guarantees regarding the preservation of gas transit through Ukraine. Merkel also plans to discuss with Putin the situation in Belarus, including the migration crisis on the border with the EU, in which Brussels blames the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. One of the possible topics of negotiations is the poisoning of Alexei Navalny Most likely, the interlocutors will dwell on the political situation in Russia. In particular, human rights activists urge Merkel to continue to seek from the Russian authorities a transparent and concrete investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, which took place a year ago. The day before, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Putin in a telephone conversation to release Navalny in accordance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, Merkel may raise the issue of persecution of civil society representatives, including the ban on the activities of three German NGOs in Russia, which has already led to the indefinite suspension of all bilateral events and meetings of German-Russian working groups within the framework of the forum of civil societies in Germany and Russia "Petersburg Dialogue".