SOCHI (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Russian city of Sochi.
"The president and the federal chancellor focused on bilateral relations, this is trade and economic interaction, cultural and humanitarian interaction, so the relations are not even warming up, they are continuing to develop despite the existing difficulties, and have a tendency of growth somewhere," Peskov told reporters.
According to the spokesman, the leaders also exchanged opinions on international issues.
"This was Syria, Libya, Afghanistan," Peskov said.
Following the talks, the two leaders said that Moscow and Berlin should maintain dialogue despite the current political troubles caused by disagreements over a number of international issues, including the Ukrainian conflict.
Germany was among the most active supporters of the European Union’s sectoral sanctions against Russia over the reunification of Crimea with Russia and Moscow's alleged involvement in the destabilization of the situation in Ukraine, which the Russian authorities have denied.
Peskov added that Russia does not understand Germany’s position on the issue of maintaining the anti-Russia sanctions until the Minsk agreements on Ukraine have been implemented.
"Germany maintains its position, which is shared by some countries of Europe, regarding linking sanctions with the implementation of the Minsk agreements. Such position is traditionally met with our incomprehension because Russia is not a side to this conflict," Peskov told reporters.
The spokesman noted that the parties did not discuss the issue of sanctions.
"The sanctions were not discussed. President Putin traditionally does not discuss sanctions. The sanctions, their presence and the fact that sanctions add problems to the bilateral relations, have been mentioned. Yes, these have been discussed by Merkel, but the sanctions as such were not the subject of the conversation," Peskov noted.
Since 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. The European Union, together with the United States, introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has denied the accusations and introduced countermeasures against the countries that targeted it with the sanctions.
Peskov stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, mentioned sanctions as an element that harms bilateral relations.
"She mentioned the sanctions as an element that, let's say, rather harms the atmosphere of bilateral relations, traditionally linked these sanctions with the implementation of the Minsk agreements, which was traditionally perceived by Putin with a lack of understanding, because we categorically disagree with such a linkage," Peskov said in an interview with the program "60 Minutes" on the Rossiya 1 television channel.
