EU leaders disagree over talks with Putin

<1> The heads of state and government of the European Union did not agree to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Some countries, after a three-hour summit in Brussels, rejected a proposal from Germany and France – they insisted that Moscow begin to fulfill a number of EU requirements even before the summit meeting. <2> <3> The summit's conclusions talked about opportunities for dialogue in areas of common interest, but also called for the preparation of possible further economic sanctions against Russia. In general, they have a less favorable tone for Moscow than the original text proposed by Berlin and Paris. <4><5> According to EU officials, relations between the EU and Russia are at their worst in many years due to hostilities in some of the bloc's member states, including the Czech Republic. Therefore, the presidents and prime ministers of the EU countries called on the European Commission to prepare “options for new restrictive measures, including economic sanctions.” <6> <7> At the same time, Germany and France tried to achieve a more accommodating tone, including a possible meeting with Putin, but this the proposal was not accepted due to pressure from Poland and the Baltic countries in particular. <8> <9> “Today we could not agree on an immediate summit meeting, but it is important for me that the format of the dialogue is preserved and we are working on it ", – said Merkel. <10><11> In their conclusions, the EU leaders only identified possible areas of cooperation on issues of common interest, such as climate change, health policy, a nuclear deal with Iran, or the crisis in Syria and Libya. “In this context, the European Council will consider the formats and conditions of dialogue with Russia,” the resolution says. <12> <13> Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the discussion at the highest level in relation to Russia tough. He said that the EU should consider the issue of dialogue with Moscow, which would not contradict the interests of the union. “It is too early, because we have not yet observed radical changes in views,” the Lithuanian President said about a possible meeting with Putin. <14> <15> Source: ceskenoviny.cz <16> <17> <18> <19> Follow for the main news of the Czech Republic together with 420on.cz in a format convenient for you: <20> <21> <22> <23><24> <25> YouTube – we get rid of the Russian accent in Czech <26> <27> <28> <29><30><31> <32> Telegram – short news digest for the day <33><34><35> <36> <37><38><39> <40> Facebook – news discussion and discussion < 41> <42> <43> <44><45><46><47> <48> Instagram – photo and video news every day <49> <50> <51> <52> <53>