Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed again on Monday for a summit between the European Union (EU) and Russia and said, "even in the Cold War we talked to each other."
Merkel addressed concerns of "hybrid attacks" previously faced by European nations during a question-and-answer session and said, "it's better not just always to talk about this among ourselves, but to confront the Russian president with these things and to say that beneficial cooperation can't take place on such a basis." Eastern EU nations shot down the idea of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, the Associated Press reported.
"The relationship between Russia and the European Union is really not good at the moment, but even in the Cold War we talked to each other. So I think not speaking isn't suited to solving the problems," Merkel said.
The Baltic states neighboring Russia are wary of an EU-Russia summit. Meanwhile, the EU relies on Russia as its largest natural gas supplier.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Merkel on Monday argued holding a European Union meeting with Putin would offer an opportunity to confront Putin with European concerns.
At a summit on Friday, EU leaders agreed only to "explore formats and conditionalities of dialogue with Russia." There was no mention of any high-level meetings or plans for a summit with Putin, an idea that Germany and France had pushed. The outcome reflected deep divisions in the 27-nation EU's approach to Moscow.
The EU is concerned that Putin is turning increasingly authoritarian and wants to distance himself from the West. Both it and the NATO military alliance are struggling to bring Russia back to the table. U.S. President Joe Biden's meeting with Putin this month was a rare exception.
"The concern was that we perhaps wouldn't be able to put up a united front, (and) such a summit, of course, requires very intensive preparation," Merkel said at a question-and-answer session with German and French lawmakers. She said it would allow Europeans to "address all the questions that weigh on us and also those on which we want to cooperate."
"This was made very clear by President Biden regarding cyberattacks, and why should Europe not be able to do exactly that?" Merkel said when addressing concerns of "hybrid attacks."
But the Baltic states are among those deeply concerned about reaching out to Moscow when the Minsk agreements meant to bring peace to Ukraine are still not being respected. On the other hand, Russia plays a key role in a series of international conflicts and issues linked to Europe's strategic interests, including the Iran nuclear deal and conflicts in Syria and Libya.
Merkel added, "we have moved one step forward but are not there yet."
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