German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Moscow on Aug. 20 as part of her “farewell tour.”
Merkel refrained from criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that their last face-to-face meeting will focus on Afghanistan and bilateral economic relations.
In recent years, Berlin and Moscow have closely cooperated on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, their best-known bilateral project, which is set to be commissioned on Aug. 23, according to Deutsche Welle.
The pipeline under the Baltic Sea will allow Russia to send gas directly to Germany and other European countries, without going through Ukraine, which may lose billions of dollars in transit revenues as a result.
“Germany, in general, is our closest ally in Europe,” Putin said during the joint press conference before the meeting.
Merkel is visiting Russia exactly one year after Putin’s best-known critic, Alexei Navalny was poisoned, allegedly by Russian intelligence agents.
After falling ill on a Russian domestic flight on Aug. 20, 2020, Navalny was evacuated to a Charite hospital in Germany, where doctors confirmed that he was suffering the effects of a Novichok nerve agent.
After surviving an assassination attempt, Navalny returned to Russia only to be arrested. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for violating parole conditions while being in a coma in Germany. He was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.
Merkel told journalists that she asked Putin to release Navalny from captivity, without holding the Russian leader responsible for the poison attack.
Putin responded that Navalny ”wasn’t convicted based on his political activities, rather for his criminal acts,” said Putin.
The U.K. on Aug. 20 published a list of seven Russian intelligence officers who are members of a special Federal Security Service unit suspected of poisoning Navalny.
Merkel also briefly talked about Ukraine, saying that Germany has always supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“We will adhere to this position, of course,” said Merkel.
“The Normandy Format is the only political format that we have available to discuss controversial topics. At this point here we have some stagnation,” she added. “Unfortunately, Ukrainian soldiers are dying on the front line.”
The last Normandy Format meeting took place on Dec. 9, 2019.
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and occupied Crimea and eastern Donbas, killing over 13,000 people. Four Ukrainian soldiers died in August.
After leaving Moscow, Merkel is set to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Aug. 22.
