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German, Russian leaders meet, Russia-Georgia realtions set top agenda
The situation in Georgia and Russia's relations with Nato are expected to top the agenda of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a day after EU monitors began patrolling Georgian territory.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:08 October 2, 2008
Berlin: The situation in Georgia and Russia's relations with Nato are expected to top the agenda of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a day after EU monitors began patrolling Georgian territory.
The meeting between the German and Russian leaders, in St.Petersburg on Thursday, is their fourth this year and part of an ongoing exchange between the two countries. Yet it comes at a crucial time in Russian-European Union relations, with relations still fragile following Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russia has until October 10 to withdraw its remaining troops from areas they occupied in August. Speaking to reporters outside of St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Medvedev said Russia would fulfill its promise to withdraw the troops and rejected the idea it was seeking a new Cold War.
Russian's recognition of the breakaway Georgian provinces came months after a discussions in Nato over whether Georgia and Ukraine should be invited to join the alliance, a move bitterly opposed by Moscow.
The global financial crisis is also expected to play a role in the talks, which are taking place in a scaled-down format from previous years, with Merkel bringing a much
smaller delegation than usual and reducing her stay from the usual two days down to one.
"German-Russia relations has proved in the past difficult weeks to be resilient," said Klaus Mangold, head of the Berlin-based Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.
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