German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s proposal for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and European leaders is a good signal for Moscow and a bad signal for Kiev, State Duma deputy Elena Panina said on her Telegram channel.
Earlier, the Financial Times, citing diplomatic sources, wrote that the leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, want the European Union to consider inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the summit. The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the initiative to hold the summit of the Russian Federation and the EU belongs to Merkel, it is supported by Macron and should be discussed by the European Union, while it is important to understand whether all EU members agree to a meeting between the Russian Federation and the EU.
“The publication writes that German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed to hold a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the leaders of the EU countries. The initiative was supported by Paris and already voiced by the ambassadors of Germany and France during a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU. In fact, we are talking about a return to the format of meetings at the highest level. Russia – EU. These summits ceased to be held after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014 due to the course of the West aimed at isolating Russia, “Panina wrote.
She stressed that the proposal of European colleagues to invite Putin to the meeting is a good signal for Russia, this shows the priority of the Russian Federation over Ukraine. “This is a good signal for Moscow and a bad signal for Kiev. It turns out that relations with Russia have a priority for the European Union. They have to reckon with Moscow. And all this time, since the spring of 2014, Russia was simply tested for weakness. However, our country did not succumb to pressure.” concluded the parliamentarian.
On Thursday, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, before the start of the summit, confirmed that the leaders of the EU countries in Brussels will discuss the proposal of Germany and France for an EU-Russia summit.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimean voters and 95.6% of Sevastopol residents spoke in favor of joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be its own, but temporarily occupied territory. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “finally closed.”