Merkel and Putin will discuss bilateral relations, the COVID-19 pandemic, and international issues such as the situation in Afghanistan and stalled peace process to end the conflict in Ukraine, the Chancellery said on August 18.
The two are also expected to discuss the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will bring natural gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Belarus, refugee issues, and Syria are also likely to come up, as well as Russian cyberattacks and other information operations as Germany heads to polls in September.
In July, Germany and the United States reached an agreement on Nord Stream 2, ending years of bickering between the allies by jointly pledging to support Ukraine and committing to confront Russia if it uses energy to apply political pressure.
After Russia, Merkel will then travel to Ukraine on August 22 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Alongside France, Germany has been at the center of trying to mediate the conflict in Ukraine between Kremlin-backed separatist forces in the east and the government in Kyiv.
The visit to Moscow falls on the first anniversary of opposition figure Aleksei Navalny’s nerve-agent poisoning in Siberia that the Putin critic blames on the Kremlin. The anti-corruption campaigner was jailed in January upon returning to Moscow from Germany, where he had received life-saving treatment.
“The case of the opposition activist, who was almost killed a year ago, is part of a series of numerous conflict issues that put a heavy strain on relations between the two countries,” Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said in an analysis ahead of the visit.
The Kremlin denies poisoning Navalny, and has maintained his prison sentence is not political even as authorities banned his political network and anti-corruption foundation ahead of Russia’s September parliamentary elections.
German and other Western laboratories determined Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-type military nerve agent of the Novichok group. In response, Germany and the EU called on Russia investigate the “assassination” attempt and imposed sanctions on a handful of individuals.
“We are deeply concerned about Mr. Navalny’s politically motivated arrest…as well as outlawing of Mr. Navalny’s organization and his regional offices ahead of the State Duma elections in September,” the European Union said August 19 ahead of the anniversary of the jailed opposition leader’s poisoning.
“The European Union reiterates its call on Russia for Mr. Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release.”
Merkel has repeatedly called for Navalny to be freed and is likely to bring it up in her talks with Putin, as well as the ongoing crackdown on civil society.
In a statement on August 19, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow again demanded proof that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, blaming Germany and its allies of a provocation to discredit Russia in the eyes of the world community.
After 16 years at the height of European politics, Merkel is stepping down after her fourth term as chancellor following German elections on September 26.
During her time in office, the “crisis chancellor” has met and spoken by phone with Putin more than any Western leader as the two elder statespeople engaged in global diplomacy on some of the toughest issues, from Ukraine and the Iran nuclear deal to the conflict in Syria.
“She is an experienced politician and very direct person. She is very reliable in everything we have agreed on. She is — and this is amazing to me — a very consistent person who defends her position,” Putin, a German-speaking former KGB officer stationed in Dresden, once said of Merkel.
