BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2020) Building a new "wall" between Russia and the West over the case of alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny is not productive, chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger said.
"We have to take Russia seriously. It will result in nothing if we now try to build a new 'wall' between Russia and the West because of Navalny and other sad and terrible events. Russia is our large neighbor, there is a chance to work with Russia on climate police, middle East policy or .. the difficult issue of the Ukrainian policy, we have to seize the opportunity," Ischinger said, as aired on N24 broadcaster.
The diplomat added that Europe could not demand "full blockade of Russia" as that would not produce any results.
Ischinger added that Nord Stream 2 could hardly be excluded from the discussion on possible response measures as Germany said that this response would be European.
"If we are putting on the table the options that are potentially acceptable for Europe, from diplomatic steps to individual sanctions, the German government cannot tell its EU partners: we will take all possible steps, but Nord Stream 2 must stay. I don't think it would be acceptable to many partners," Ischinger said, adding that he was skeptical about proposals on the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
