Angela Merkel traveled to Moscow to discuss with Putin the crisis in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Belarus

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel arrives in Russia today to discuss the bilateral and international agenda with President Vladimir Putin with a focus on Afghanistan, Ukraine and Belarus.

The Kremlin announced in a statement that Putin and Merkel will assess the state of bilateral relations and discuss current issues on the regional and international agenda.

In turn, the spokesperson for the German executive, Steffen Seibert, clarified that Afghanistan, Ukraine and Belarus will focus the meeting between the leaders of Russia and Germany.

Seibert explained that, according to Merkel, Putin can do “much more” to find a solution in eastern Ukraine thanks to Moscow’s influence over pro-Russian separatists.

Berlin hopes that Moscow will also use its influence in Minsk on the question of the “migration war” with Brussels.

Merkel recently denounced that Belarusian leader Alexandr Lukashenko was pressuring the European Union by sending migrants to its borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

This is Merkel’s second visit to Russia in less than two years, weeks before German politicians left office.

At the meeting held in Moscow in January 2020, both discussed the situation in Ukraine, the tensions between the United States and Iran, as well as the Libyan and Syrian conflicts.

The meeting between the leaders lasted more than three hours.

Today Putin and Merkel will also discuss the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, and which Ukraine is opposed to.

In addition, the leaders of Russia and Germany are expected to address the situation of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose nerve gas poisoning marks one year today.

After Russia, Merkel will travel to Kiev, where she will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 22.

(With information from EFE)

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