to monitor the implementation of the deal with Russia.” According to the Turkish leader, “the joint center, which will be established on Azerbaijani territories that were liberated from Armenia’s occupation.” However, Moscow does not agree to deploy it to the areas Baku reclaimed during the latest war. The Turkish side claims that although the agreement has already been signed, its details still need to be determined. Regardless of how the deal would
ultimately look like and despite Turkey’s not being included in the formation of the peace contingent, it has shown its important role in the Russian-dominated area. Turkish influence is likely to grow not only in Azerbaijan and Georgia but also in the whole Black Sea region. Now, despite their cordial relations, Moscow will have to compete with Turkey in areas the Kremlin saw as its traditional sphere of influence.
10 December 2020
GERMANY’S AFD VISITS MOSCOW: IS THIS KREMLIN’S ATTEMPT TO DISCIPLINE MERKEL? It is not coincidence that Germany’s top opposition party has paid a visit to Moscow right now. With this invitation, the authorities in Moscow show their German counterparts they have other conversation partners in Germany. This serves as an attempt to exert pressure on Angela Merkel and Germany’s ruling coalition to quit its firm actions after the attempted poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny and come back to the business-as-usual attitude towards Russia. Especially since it is the key time for the Nord Stream 2 energy project and its plausible success, and it is not incidental that a delegation of Germany’s AfD broached this topic. The day before the meeting, on December 7, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the visit, citing Russia’s “diverse relations” with Germany.
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n December 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with a delegation of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Members of the far-right populist party arrived in Moscow in response to an invitation issued by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. The German delegation was headed
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by the deputy head of the AfD’s parliamentary group, Tino Chrupalla, accompanied by Paul Hampel, the party’s spokesman on foreign affairs. Lavrov said “many serious problems have built up between Russia and Germany so all channels of communication are important.” Both the invitation for the AfD delegation
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