Putin cautions against "mutual estrangement" in note to Merkel
Moscow (dpa) - Germany and Russia need to make sure they maintain their close relationship amid the "current complicated international situation," warns Russian President Vladimir Putin as he congratulated Germany on 25 years since reunification.
Without naming such hotspots as Ukraine and Syria -- where the two have come down on different sides, at times amid ratcheting tensions -- he says the two countries need to guard against "mutual estrangement."
Instead, the two countries need to safeguard the positive potential between them, writes Putin in a telegram to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Joachim Gauck.
"The unification of Germany a quarter of a century ago meant the end of the Cold War in Europe and opened up a new chapter in the history of our relations," Putin writes, according to a Kremlin statement.