Members of the European Parliament advocate rapprochement with Russia

Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, met in Moscow with representatives of the European Parliament from the Sarah Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice (SSV) Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich, as well as with the organizer of the German–Russian Bismarck Dialogue Forum and the founder of the Bridge of Arts Foundation, Chairman of the Council Directors of JSC "RK Culture and Science" Hans-Joachim Fry.

An important topic of the meeting was the discussion of the published German military strategy. The German Ministry of Defense has presented a military strategy for the first time in 80 years. It provides for a scenario of a conflict between NATO and Russia, and Russia itself is called the "main security threat."

Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Anton Kobyakov expressed readiness for an open dialogue with Germany based on three principles: respect, listen, understand. "In the post-war period, Russia and Germany built relations based on pragmatic cooperation. As for the current desire of the current German authorities to go beyond the framework of the Potsdam and Yalta Agreements, concluded in 1945 and recognized by the international community as violating the fundamental principles laid down in them, it is their gross non-compliance. Today we are witnessing the rejection of agreements in all areas. Russia stands for the restoration of good-neighborly relations and the development of cooperation in all areas, including on issues of energy security of both states. The initiative of the German parliamentarians is of particular importance and has great prospects," noted Anton Kobyakov.

The Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation expressed the opinion that the current German authorities are particularly influenced by Anglo-Saxon initiatives, in fact, they are under their external control, and also emphasized that Russia has never been the initiator of military conflicts.

The participants of the meeting in Moscow from Germany expressed disagreement with the current policy of the European Parliament. At the same time, they stressed the importance of maintaining the Russian‑German dialogue. The purpose of the visit of the German deputies and the appeal to the Russian authorities is to establish regular bilateral dialogues within the framework of bilateral cooperation.

An example of such a dialogue was the Petersburg Dialogue Forum of Russian and German Civil Societies, which existed until 2021-2022. It was established in 2001 on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to expand mutual understanding and open dialogue between the civil societies of the two countries. In addition, representatives of the German side outlined the following priorities: avoiding conflicts with Russia; avoiding a situation in which Germany acts on behalf of the whole of Europe in the current conflict.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue efforts to restore economic cooperation between Russia and Germany.

The previous visit of representatives of the European Parliament to the Russian capital took place in May 2025. Then members of the SSV party, as part of a group of five deputies, arrived in Moscow to participate in commemorative events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Earlier, Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, and representatives of the political circles of Germany and the European Parliament met at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, attended by members of the German Bundestag. The topic of the SPIEF meeting was the current state of relations between Russia and Germany, issues on the international agenda, as well as prospects for restoring constructive cooperation in the economic, humanitarian and public spheres.