President Vladimir Putin yesterday faced a grilling over Russia’s role in Ukraine and Syria at talks in Berlin on his first visit to the German capital since the Ukrainian conflict erupted.
He was welcomed by host Chancellor Angela Merkel, as dozens of protesters who had gathered close to the chancellery held up bloody teddy bears in protest against Russia’s air raids in Syria.
Merkel said the talks — the first four-way summit for a year — were aimed at “offering a brutally honest assessment” of progress on implementing the frayed Minsk peace accords for Ukraine.
“Things are stalled in many areas such as the ceasefire, political issues and humanitarian issues,” she told reporters.
“We have to seize every chance we have for progress. I have to say that we cannot expect a miracle but it is worth every effort at this point.”
But Moscow poured cold water on hopes for headway toward a lasting resolution of the conflict at the talks with Germany, France and Ukraine.
“We do not expect any breakthroughs,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of Putin’s trip.
“I don’t expect easy talks,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said ahead of the talks.
“A peaceful solution is not yet in sight...but we will not stop trying.”
Putin had not visited Berlin since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, sending relations with the West plunging to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Moscow’s involvement in the Syrian civil war, which has deepened the diplomatic freeze, will also figure at the top of the agenda, Merkel said.
Speaking of the “disastrous” situation in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, Merkel said she and French President Francois Hollande would talk to Putin “about somehow alleviating people’s suffering”.
“Here too, we cannot expect miracles but it is essential to talk, even if the views are far apart,” said Merkel, who will head to Brussels today for a summit with fellow EU leaders.
The European leaders will issue a condemnation against Russia over attacks on civilians in Syria’s Aleppo, urge an end to fighting and call for a revived political process, according to a draft statement seen by AFP.
In a small conciliatory gesture, Russia said it was extending an eight-hour truce in Aleppo, which is planned for today, to 11 hours to allow civilians and rebels to leave the city’s battered east.
The move came after Hollande said he would work with Merkel to persuade Putin to prolong the ceasefire.
A pause in Russian and Syrian strikes on Aleppo was holding for a second day yesterday, ahead of the promised brief ceasefire.
Syria’s second city, held by rebels determined to oust President Bashar al-Assad, has come under heavy bombardment since the Russian-backed military announced an offensive in late September to regain control of the east.
Air strikes there have flattened numerous residential buildings and civilian facilities, in a campaign the European Union said could amount to war crimes.
The last four-way summit in the so-called Normandy Format took place in Paris in October 2015.
At today’s EU summit over relations with Russia, European leaders will discuss the question of sanctions over Ukraine, which come up for renewal at the end of the year.
Russia backs a separatist, pro-Moscow insurgency in the region that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives. But it denies accusations that it has sent troops and weapons across its border with Ukraine to fuel the conflict.
In the run-up to the meeting, Moscow and Kiev swapped recriminations.
Peskov said that Putin believed there was “no alternative” to implementing the Minsk accords.
“We know that on this point, the situation leaves much to be desired,” he said. “For the moment, Kiev is doing nothing.”
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also indicated he had little hope for progress in Berlin.
“Am I optimistic enough? Yes I’m very optimistic about the future of Ukraine but unfortunately not so optimistic about tomorrow’s meeting,” he said.
Germany currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has monitors in eastern Ukraine.