Germany's Maas Says Putin-Biden Summit Would Benefit The World

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2021) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday that a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden would help both their countries and the world.

"It would be extremely helpful not only for bilateral ties if it comes to a direct meeting between Biden and Putin, but it would be a very positive event for many international conflicts and the world at large," he told the German Atlantic Society, a transatlantic lobbying group.

On the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Maas said that abolishing the gas link between Russia and Germany while trying to "decouple" the European economy from China would push Moscow and Beijing even closer together.

"It would create the world's largest economic and military complex. This is not in our interest. I find it even dangerous from the geostrategic point of view. That is why I think it should be possible to do business with Russia ” and the Nord Stream 2 project is part of this framework," he said.

The United States has been pushing Germany to cancel the pipeline, which it claims will increase Europe's energy dependence on Russia. Russia has rejected the allegation. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this month that Moscow had never used energy as a tool of coercion.