Merkel shuts Putin out of Berlin, doesn't feel like Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met today's afternoon outside Berlin for talks ranging from the conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Iran to the gas pipeline project that has sparked US anger.

Standing near Putin, Merkel said that both countries, but especially Russia as a permanent member of the United Nations Organization Security Council, had a responsibility to address these problems, writes Tch.

She said she had planned to raise human rights issues with Putin and discuss bilateral relations, strained since the annexing of the Crime Crime region in Ukraine, Russia's side in 2014.

“I am of the opinion that disputed issues can only be addressed to dialogue and resolved only through dialogue”, she said.

The two leaders raised concerns about Syria and the plight of numerous refugees, created by the seven-year war there.

Merkel said it is important to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Idlib, Syria and the surrounding region, while stressing that she and Putin had already discussed the issue of constitutional reforms and possible elections when they finally met in Soci in May.

Putin told reporters that everything must be done to help Syrian refugees return to their country and that Syria needs help with reconstruction.

As for Ukraine, Merkel said she hoped that new efforts would be made at the beginning of the school year to avoid Ukrainian military forces and separatists in the front lines in the Donbass region.

For the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline to transport Russian gas under Baltic, with Germany's destination, Merkel said Ukraine must continue to have a role in gas transit to Europe and welcomed the start of discussions between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia on the issue.

Putin told reporters such an act should have meaning from the business perspective.

I would like to stress that the main thing is that Ukrainian transit, which is traditional for us, meets economic requirements”, he said.

The United States is pushing Germany to stop working on the sub-Balkan pipeline, arguing it would increase Germany's dependence on Russia for energy.

Ukraine fears the pipeline will allow Russia to secede it from the gas transit business, while Germany's Eastern European neighbours, concerned by Russia's violations, have raised concerns about the project.

Putin arrived in Germany on Saturday evening after a stopover in an Austrian village to attend the marriage of Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl with entrepreneur Wolfgang Meilinger.