German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany and Russia needed to improve badly frayed bilateral relations. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on October 25. It was the first visit to Russia by a German president since 2010. Steinmeier pointed out that it was "very important" to establish dialogue with Moscow, in contrast to the cooling of relations over the past years. "We live in Europe together and it's our duty to our people to always keep looking for a bond despite existing disagreements," he said, adding: "These relations are too important to leave them without a dialogue." According to Steinmeier, the time is right to "find a way out of the negative spiral."
The German president believes the contacts should be maintained despite the differences over Ukraine. The talks ranged from economic ties to the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria as well as other international crises. President Putin for his part said Moscow was ready to develop ties with Germany, adding that German businesses were interested in expanding their footprint in Russia. "Despite some certain political difficulties Russian-German ties are not at a standstill," he added.
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