BERLIN: Germany has a special intermediary role allowing it to keep open the window for dialogue with Russia on the Syrian crisis, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday.
At a Berlin news conference alongside Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Maas also said the stalled Syrian peace process would be discussed at the weekend’s Toronto summit of G7 foreign ministers.
“We have to use this moment to get the political process going again,” he said of the meeting, where Russia will not be present.
“We also need Russia for this dialogue,” he added, suggesting Germany’s traditionally closer relationship with Russia could help facilitate this.
In a similar development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday discussed the situation in Syria and the possibility of advancing the political process there, Merkel’s spokesman said.
“They agreed that this was particularly urgent,” spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that followed a telephone call between the two leaders.
