Russian ambassador says Russian-German relations destroyed at Berlin's initiative

Russia-Germany relations have been destroyed at Berlin's initiative, which is deeply regrettable, Russian ambassador to the FRG Sergei Nechayev said in an interview with Izvestia on December 24.

"All initiatives related to the reduction and destruction of Russian-German relations are not our choice. Alas, the situation now is such that most, if not practically all aspects of bilateral cooperation are curtailed," the diplomat said.

Nechayev recalled that for decades both in the Soviet Union and in Russia responsible politicians sought to establish bilateral cooperation with the FRG, which at some stage grew into good neighborliness and partnership.

This was beneficial for the development of Germany itself, giving it great political weight in Europe, the ambassador added.

According to him, after the end of the Second World War, the difficult process of historical reconciliation between the two peoples gradually made its way through, which helped to find common ground. Already in the 1970s and 1980s, Germany assumed the role of a kind of bridge between the USSR and the West, but now this platform has been destroyed, the diplomat pointed out.

"The current situation in bilateral relations looks bleak, but, I repeat, this is not our initiative," Nechayev concluded.

Earlier, on December 10, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that gas supplies from Russia to Germany were a long-standing mutually beneficial tradition dating back to the Cold War. She specified that she did not consider these deliveries a mistake, as the German side received the energy resource at a good price.

Before that, on December 5, Nechayev pointed out that companies from Germany were very comfortable working on the Russian market. He drew attention to the unique conditions created for them and the absence of demands from the Russian Federation to leave.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded back in June that the Russian Federation has always treated Germany well, but Berlin is destroying relations with Moscow. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted at the same time, there is no reason to talk about the normalization of these relations due to the efforts of the German authorities.