Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on June 18 – a day after Zelenskiy urged Kyiv’s European backers to keep “pressure” on Russia to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the agenda of Merkel’s meeting with Zelenskiy included talks on the implementation of the Minsk accords and the course of reforms in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
Seibert said the two also would discuss issues related to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is meant to carry Russian natural gas beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany but faces a threat of new U.S. sanctions.
Washington, Kyiv, and Poland argue that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would help Russia bypass infrastructure in Ukraine, allowing Moscow to use energy supplies as an economic weapon against its neighbors without disrupting its exports to Western Europe.
Russia and Germany maintain that the pipeline is strictly a commercial project.
On June 17, during a visit to Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskiy called for European Union countries not to ease up their pressure on Moscow over its seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Seeks 'Pressure' On Russia At Talks With Merkel In Berlin
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Attack From Afghanistan Kills Chinese National In Tajikistan, Sources Say
2UEFA To Rule After Kosovar Players Walk Off In Romania Amid Claims Of 'Racist' Chants
3U.S. Reportedly Allows Ukraine To Strike Russia With Long-Range Weapons
4RFE/RL Reveals Chilling New Details Of Bucha Massacre As Ukraine Marks 1,000 Days Of War
5No Smooth Sailing For Climate Activist Greta Thunberg In The Caucasus
6In Russia's War Economy, The Warning Lights Are Blinking
7Could U.S. Long-Range Missiles Tip The Balance In The Ukraine War?
8Wider Europe Briefing: Georgia's Vanishing EU Dreams
9Ukraine Live Briefing: Kyiv Recieves Latest Arms Pledges
10At Least 21 Dead In Russian Missile Strikes In Ukraine's Odesa, Sumy
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
