German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered Russia negotiations with the EU on the
"possibilities of cooperation in a joint trade area". In return,
Berlin expects "a comprehensive resolution" of the conflict in
Ukraine.
Deutsche Welle, 23 Jan 2015
After talks
with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Florence on Friday, Merkel said
that "if the part of problems over Ukraine is solved", there could be
trade talks between the EU and the newly-established Eurasian Economic Union.
"I
know that we have to talk about it at the European level," Merkel said and
stressed out "those are the projects for the distant future."
Deputy
spokeswoman of the German government Christiane Wirtz said there is no concrete
offer for negotiations with Russia, it is a "signal of openness" for
discussion. "In principle, we are open for talks on a joint free-trade
area," she said.
Earlier on
Friday, German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported how Merkel's offer was made
at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Merkel said
that Germany was "ready to open talks about possibilities for co-operating
in a collective trade area".
'Europe
should not give up on European Russia'
Sigmar Gabriel in Davos |
According
to the paper, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel also proposed
"discussion about a free-trade zone" as a next step in effort to
bring Russia back into the European fold after the war in Ukraine comes to an
end.
Both Merkel
and Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor, described the free-trade zone as
extending from "Lisbon to Vladivostok," the paper said - a
formulation first used by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with
the daily in 2010. Merkel also used this turn of phrase in her public address
at Davos on Thursday.
"Europe
should not give up on European Russia," Gabriel said to DPA. Even though
it looks unrealistic at the moment, as the Russian side did almost nothing for
a peace in eastern Ukraine, "we must think about the day after conflict
ends," Gabriel said.
Even in
Davos he added that EU members should already be discussing what they could
offer Russia in the event of peace. "The next step is a free-trade
zone", he said.
However,
the German leaders insist that Russia first had to comply with the Minsk
Agreement, a ceasefire deal signed in September in the Belarusian capital by
Ukraine, Russia and pro-Moscow rebels who are waging an insurgency in eastern
Ukraine.
By the
standards of NATO members as a whole, Germany has been comparatively
understated in its criticism of Russia during the Ukraine conflict, for
instance seeking to keep OECD-sponsored peace talks in motion, most recently
with a foreign ministers' meeting held in Berlin this week between French,
German, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators.
jil/msh (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Related Article:
“… Human
Nature is Changing
There's a
new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before.
How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up
with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over
and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another
country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what
Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years
ago, it all stopped.
We've said
this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World
War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said.
"Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency."
Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common
economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it
work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the
strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still
struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the
United States, always fine tuning the unity.
South
America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in
Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one
currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it?
Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've
said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll
come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents
will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation
creates chaos. What a concept. …”
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