The German chancellor said Germany is interested in economic cooperation with Russia, despite the current political differences between the two countries.
The creation of a free trade zone between Germany and Russia is possible in the future, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during an economic forum in Stralsund, Sputnik reported.
The chancellor added that Germany is interested in economic cooperation with Russia, despite the current political differences between the two countries. Political differences should be settled in a diplomatic way, Merkel said.
“Step by step we do everything possible to create a common economic area – as Russian President Vladimir Putin once said – from Vladivostok to Lisbon,” she said.
During the forum, the German chancellor underscored the importance to implement the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian conflict despite any certain obstacles. She also said the EU association agreements signed earlier by Ukraine and Moldova are not aimed against Russia’s interests.
Earlier, economists in Germany had suggested that a free trade zone between the European Union and Russia could be beneficial, especially in view of the Ukrainian crisis.
President of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in Germany Eckhard Cordes told NDR (North German Broadcasting) Radio that a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would make sense “from the political and economic perspective”.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) Martin Wansleben told the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper that negotiations of a possible free trade zone between the European Union and EEU could be “a bridge” on the way to resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
