PRESS RELEASE
Putin Meets Merkel—Appeals to Sane Industrial Forces in Germany
May 10, 2015 (EIRNS)—German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while giving in to Obama and the British by boycotting the Victory Day Parade on Red Square on May 9, did go to Moscow today to lay a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, to honor the dead from World War II. Merkel said to Putin: "With today’s visit I would like to show that we are working with Russia and not against it."
Lyndon LaRouche noted in this regard that Merkel is at best a conflicted figure who can not be trusted, representing not only Germany’s real economic and political interests, but also the financial interests within Germany who serve London and Wall Street. It is those imperial interests that are driving for war with Russia, precisely to break up the BRICS alliance so massively displayed this weekend in Moscow, with both economic deals and a powerful display of military power involving forces from Russia, China, and India, among others.
Putin, in his press conference after their meeting, reflected this recognition of the different interests within Germany, appealing directly to the industrial forces. Putin said:
"Our [Germany-Russia] bilateral trade decreased by 6.5 percent in 2014—the first drop in the last five years. The drop exceeded 35 percent in the first two months of this year. This situation is not in the interests of either Russia or Germany. In this respect, I must say that the business community in Germany itself would like to see the lifting of these artificial barriers to developing our mutually advantageous trade and economic ties.
"Business people are pragmatic by nature. They are therefore not leaving the Russian market and are assessing the current opportunities for doing successful business here. More than 6,000 German companies have a presence in the Russian market, and total accumulated German investment in the Russian economy comes to more than $21 billion....
"There are other areas where the cooling in our bilateral relations has affected our business ties. But there are also areas that continue to develop. Interregional cooperation is one such area. For example, 23 Russian regions have solid ongoing contacts with 14 regions in Germany. A large conference of twin cities is scheduled to take place in Karlsruhe at the end of June, and around 100 pairs of twin cities are expected to attend.
"We are developing our cooperation potential in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. We are now summing up the results of the reciprocal years of the Russian and German languages and literature, which took place in 2014-2015. Around 200 events were organized as part of this program, many of them focused on our two countries’ youth. This prompted the idea of organizing a year of youth exchanges in 2016. I think this is an important initiative with a focus on the future."
Putin went on to discuss the relative calm in Ukraine since the Minsk agreements, noting that "we differ considerably in our assessment of the events that led to the anti-constitutional coup in the Ukrainian capital in February 2014," but praising the "Normandy format" of meetings between Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine as the necessary approach to peace. He insisted, however, that the only guarantee of peace would be "direct dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk."
