Putin expresses in a telegram to Merkel his hope for developing bilateral cooperation

The Kremlin announced on Wednesday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent two congratulatory telegrams to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of the New Year, in which he expressed his hope for developing bilateral cooperation between Moscow and Berlin.

The Kremlin stated that Putin said in the two telegrams that the Russian-German relations “are important for the two peoples and have great importance for stability and security on the European continent”.

Putin also expressed his hope for the cooperation of his country and Germany in the new year in solving a number of international problems.

It is noteworthy that relations between Moscow and Berlin have tense recently in a manner that has not happened in decades, due to among other reasons the poisoning of prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and the cyber-attack on the German parliament in 2015.

Russia denies the accusations leveled against it of being behind the two incidents, for which the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia, and the latter responded with counter-sanctions that primarily affected German state companies.

According to the Kremlin, Putin sent many congratulatory telegrams for the New Year, including to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, outgoing US President Donald Trump and US President-elect Joe Biden, and the Kremlin stated that Putin said in his telegrams to Trump and Biden that Russia and the United States can do a lot for stability and security in the world by observing their common interests.