“Special relationship”: Merkel called for dialogue with Russia

Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that relations between Berlin and Moscow have always been special and called for their bilateral development.

“We need to remain in dialogue with Russia […] Relations between Germany and Russia have always been special,” Merkel quotes Welt.

According to her, Germany and France continue to work together to normalize the situation in Donbass through the implementation of the Minsk agreements. The politician stressed that the events in Donbass “deeply shook the European order.”

Earlier, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder called for accelerating the certification of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in order to stock up on gas as soon as possible on the eve of a cold winter.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with a total capacity of about 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year has been built from the shores of Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. The United States actively opposed the construction of the pipeline, as it wants to supply Europe with its own liquefied gas. However, later, Washington admitted that the construction of Nord Stream 2 could not be stopped.

According to the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnik, Berlin’s support for the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 has become a knife in the back of Kiev.