BERLIN, Dec 12 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said on Monday that economic cooperation between Germany and Russia could become possible again if the Kremlin ends its war in Ukraine.
In previous speeches, Schultz said the West would not lift sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine until Moscow withdrew its troops from Ukraine and reached a peace agreement with Kiev.
“At the moment our relationship is decreasing, decreasing, decreasing,” he told Germany’s Council on Economic Relations in Eastern Europe, referring to the fact that Western sanctions on Russia have weighed on bilateral trade and investment.
“But a Russia that ends the war,” Scholz said, should have the opportunity to reopen economic cooperation. “But that’s not now.”
Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Bill Burkelow
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