With a bouquet of flowers in hand, Vladimir Putin said goodbye to Angela Merkel

The situation in Afghanistan and Libya, Russian-German bilateral relations and the state of civil society in Russia, were some of the topics that were discussed during the meeting.

The timing is not fortuitous because, as Merkel’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said, German demands “they were not yet satisfied”, the case “is not resolved” and it is a “heavy burden” on relations between the two countries.

At the opening of the event, Putin said that Germany remains one of Russia’s main partners in Europe and around the world.

For her part, the German Chancellor asked that the dialogue between the two countries continue after her exit from power despite the “deep differences” between the two countries. During the meeting, Merkel’s phone rang which briefly interrupted the conversations.

“Although we have deep differences, we talk. And it should continue like this ”, said Merkel, who during her 16 years in office has had a complex and ambivalent relationship with the Russian president.

“Currently, Russia is hosting the Year of Germany, with economic development at the center of the scene. We are in constant contact by phone. We have many questions that need to be addressed in a face to face meeting.: I am sure that it will not only be a farewell visit, after his decision to no longer occupy the post of Federal Chancellor, but a visit full of serious and practical content ”, declared the Russian president.

Following the meeting with Putin, the August 29 Merkel flies to Israel for a state visitannounced in Berlin the spokesperson Ulrike Demmer. Merkel will meet the prime minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac herzog and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid.