BERLIN/MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th August, 2020) Relations between Berlin and Moscow are too significant to be left without attention, top German diplomat Heiko Maas told reporters on Tuesday before departing to Russia, where the diplomat met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"German-Russian relations are too important to be left without attention. This became even more true as the COVID-19 pandemic made direct contact between Germans and Russians even more difficult," Maas said, as quoted by the German Foreign Ministry.
The diplomat also said that Moscow's role was significant in resolving important international issues, including conflicts in Ukraine, Libya and Syria. Maas added that Germany wants Russia to acknowledge Moscow's key role in arms control.
During a joint press conference with Lavrov in Moscow later in the day, the German foreign minister once again stressed Russia's major role in settling international crises.
"In these times when we know that there is a number of international crises and conflicts, we need Russia to find solutions and we need Russia to communicate on a bilateral level," Maas said.
The top German diplomat also stressed the importance of international cooperation and coordination within multilateral organizations "in these difficult times of global crises."
According to Maas, Moscow and Berlin need to openly communicate on "complex" bilateral issues, including the high-profile murder in Tiergarten and a cyber attack on the Bundestag.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old ethnic Chechen and a Georgian citizen, was shot dead in Berlin's Tiergarten park last year. Germany has stated that either Russia or government officials in its Chechen region were behind the killing, something Moscow has refuted.
Berlin has also been insisting that a Russian citizen, allegedly a military intelligence officer named Dmitry Badin, was involved in the 2015 Bundestag hacking incident. Moscow says that no credible evidence has so far been presented by the German authorities to substantiate the accusations.
Maas is set to visit St. Petersburg after Moscow during his trip, where he will meet City Governor Alexander Beglov and talk via a teleconference with survivors of the WWII siege of Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was known during Soviet times.
"About a year ago, I agreed with my Russian counterpart [Lavrov] on a humanitarian gesture that would benefit the survivors of the blockade. I am glad this is finally taking shape with the support of a hospital for veterans," the German foreign minister said.
Maas also said that Berlin was bearing the responsibility "for the terrible crime" committed by Nazi Germany 75 years ago.
