Contents tagged with Germany

  • Merkel criticizes Russia and Syrian government over humanitarian crisis in Aleppo

    The head of the German government, Chancellor Angela Merkel, called the situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo ‘nightmarish.’ According to her, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia both must do more to relieve the suffering of the people in the besieged city.

    Merkel said she was shocked by the scale of the humanitarian disaster in the Syrian city of Aleppo and sharply criticized al-Assad and Russia. "What is happening in Aleppo now is a nightmare, a humanitarian catastrophe. Calls for …

  • Lithuania purchases German armored vehicles

    On Monday, August 22nd, Lithuania signed an agreement to purchase German “Boxer” combat armored vehicles in the amount of 386 million Euros, Delfi.lt reports. It is supposedly the most expensive purchase in the history of the Armed Forces of Lithuania.

    "88 combat wheeled armored vehicles will be bought for 385.6 million Euro and issued in accordance with the requirements of Lithuania,” said the Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, Juozas Olekas. The Minister signed the agreement with the …

  • Merkel sees no reason to lift sanctions on Russia

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no reason to lift the economic sanctions against Russia, as stated by the German politician on Friday, August 19, in an interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland media group.

    According to her, Moscow provoked a severe crisis with the annexation of the Crimea and its military operations in eastern Ukraine. "Europe had to respond to the violation of the basic principles of world order," Angela Merkel said.

    According to her, the observance of the …

  • Lavrov rejects Steinmeier's proposal to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo by air

    The heads of the German and Russian Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Syria and Ukraine at a recent press conference. Sergey Lavrov did not support Frank-Walter Steinmeier's proposal on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo by air.

    The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, appealed to Russia with a call to promote the signing of an armistice between the conflicting parties in Syria to deliver humanitarian aid to the Syrian city of Aleppo. "I think guns …

  • Steinmeier and Lavrov to discuss situation in Ukraine

    The Russian and German Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will meet to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Syria on August 15, RIA Novosti reported, with reference to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service. On that day, Steinmeier will visit Yekaterinburg for the opening of a Russian-German summer school in the Ural Federal University. After this event, his meeting with Lavrov will take place.

    “The most relevant aspects of bilateral cooperation in the …

  • Steinmeir: It is too early to lift sanctions on Russia

    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with Stuttgarter Nachrichten that it is too early to cancel the EU sanctions against Russia.

    "Sanctions are not our final purpose. Our aim is not to maintain sanctions but to resolve the conflict in Ukraine," he stressed.

    We consciously connect them with progress towards the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. If there is tangible progress, we will be able to think about easing the sanctions," the German Minister said.

    " …

  • Germany says lifting sanctions on Russia will not be possible anytime soon

    Germany has no plans of lifting sanctions against Russia in the near future, as stated by the German Commissioner for Cooperation with Russia, Gernot Erler, reports Deutsche Welle.

    The situation in eastern Ukraine is being taken into consideration in Germany. According to Erler, violations of the truce and ceasefire agreement are recorded almost every day during the last few weeks. All this led to numerous casualties on both sides, said Erler.

    It is also reported that all 28 EU member …

  • Poroshenko agrees with Merkel’s call for stronger sanctions against Russia

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, conducted a telephone call with the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. Both parties agreed to intensify the work in the Normandy format and in other sectors, the Presidential press service reported. In particular, the call concerned the development of a clear roadmap for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, including Russia’s fulfillment of the security component.

    As noted in the report, the President of Ukraine pointed out Russia’s …

  • Steinmeier proposes special status for Transnistria

    The German Minister for Foreign Affairs called for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict by granting special status to Transnistria.

    The acting chairman-in-office of the OSCE, German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, stated the need to resolve the Transnistrian conflict before it escalates further.

    “Old conflicts that we call frozen, they aren’t so frozen. There are always risks of these conflicts transitioning into the ‘hot’ stage. We saw it in the case of the …

  • Bild will not include Russia on Olympic medals table in its newspaper

    The sports editor of Bild newspaper, Walter Straten, said on June 20th that the German newspaper would not include the results of Russian athletes in the medal table if the Russian team is allowed to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. According to Straten, the International Olympic Committee and its President, Thomas Bach, have not yet decided on Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games.

    “We will not do so. If Russia is allowed in the Olympics, Bild will remove its …