16th November 2014 06:53 Clock

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 meeting in Brisbane

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the G20 meeting in Brisbane | © Alain Jocard / dpa

Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the Ukraine-crisis no closer to the West. In his closing press conference at the G20 summit Putin said the conflict pity all sides. He made it clear in individual meetings with G20 colleagues.

First, Chancellor Angela Merkel had spoken on the night of Sunday two hours with Putin in private. Then EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker came for a good hour to do so. Finally Merkel left the Dreierunde, and the Commission and the Russians – they know each other a long time – met another hour on alone.

“The Commission has used the meeting to understand motives and goals of President Putin,” it said of the delegation. “It was a fundamental and wide-ranging debate.” Details of the sound reportedly substantive talks were not immediately known.

Even after these discussions, no solution to the civil war in eastern Ukraine apparent. Where pro-Russian separatists fight for independence. Moscow is accused of supporting them.

Putin was unhappy with the discussions at the summit. The Russian media reported before Putin’s press conference after the meeting. Above all, he deplore the pressure in the face of the Ukraine crisis. He pointed again any influence back on the civil war in the east of Ukraine. He was not without hope for a peaceful solution, said the Kremlin chief in Brisbane, Australia. It was important to help the people in the war zone. Then he left the summit.

Merkel, US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the European Union, meanwhile, continue to advise on Ukraine crisis and possible further sanctions against Russia. Also present were, inter alia, French President François Hollande, the British Prime Minister David Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. As the White House announced in advance, the participants in the conversation are also talking about a proposed trade agreement between the EU and the USA.

The United States and Europe have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia for its actions in the Ukraine. The penalties have Putin so far not moved to a give in.