Merkel meets Medvedev ahead of G20 summit

Source: Xinhua | 04-01-2009 10:13

BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel met here with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday afternoon, exchanging views on policies and proposals ahead of the G20 summit in London and the summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Strasbourg and Baden-Baden.

The meeting started at around 5 p.m. local time (0300 GMT), and a press conference was to be followed an hour later.

Local press reported that the two leaders were to discuss the two countries' policy proposals to be presented to the G20 summit.

Last week, Russia announced an ambitious proposal to overhaul the entire global financial order and even introduce a new supra-national currency.

German radio Deutsche Welle said the two leaders are expected to address the idea of a new European security treaty to be drawn up at a pan-European conference, proposed by the Russian president last June.

At the upcoming NATO summit, the relationship with Russia is a vital issue on its agenda.

The two leaders would also touch upon the energy supply, according to local media.

On Jan. 1, Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine in the wake of disputes with Kiev, leaving millions of people in central Europe and the Balkans without heating in the cold weather.

Germany is Europe's biggest economy and Russia's biggest gas customer in Europe in terms of volume, relying on Moscow for almost 40 percent of its supplies.

Editor:Shi Taoyang