Putin heads to Berlin for talks on Ukraine and Syria

Russian president Vladimir Putin will visit Berlin on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, and will meet German Chancellor Andela Merkel for talks on the Syrian and Ukraine conflicts.

This is his first trip to this German City since the Ukranian conflict flared up.
Chancellor Merkel said the talks will include Ukraine and France in a 4-way summit to make a crystal-clear assessment of the progress in the implementation of the Minsk peace accords for Ukraine.  
She told reporters in Berlin that "things are stalled in many areas such as the ceasefire, political issues and humanitarian issues."

President Putin is expected to meet a lot of pressure from the participants in the scheduled talks. Chancellor Merkel is not optimistic about the results of the talks but making the effort might be the right direction.

On the Syrian conflict, President Putin will be asked for lasting ceasefire in Aleppo so humanitarian can the alleviate hardships of the people and to put an end to the utter devastation of the city.

Allepo, the second largest city in Syria has been seized by rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian military backed by Russia have assaulted the city employing land and air strikes causing wide destruction to the city, mostly residential buildings and civilian structures.

The European Union has warned that the continuous bombardment of the city may constitute a war crime for the severe damage done to civilians.

The Berlin meeting will be held almost simultaneously with the European Union summit in Brussels set to discuss its relationships with Russia including renewal of sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

France is more interested in finding the right processes that can end the Ukraine crisis. Russia denies that it has sent weapons and troops to the pro-Moscow separatist rebels that resulted in 10,000 casualties.

Ukranian president Petro Poroshenko has little trust in the outcome of the Berlin meeting but he is optimistic about the future of his country.

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