Germany: No options off the table including sanctions - Merkel on Putin meeting

No options will be taken off the table, including sanctions, stated German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference in Berlin, Tuesday, ahead of the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the German capital. SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "I would like to say that we certainly cannot expect a miracle from the meeting tomorrow. However, at this point every effort is worthwhile because the Normandy format is the format that we have in the diplomacy to move forward." SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "It is self-evident that during this kind of meeting, the French president and I will take the chance to talk with the Russian president and discuss the situation in Syria. I have already done it in Hangzhou during the G20 Summit, the French president has done it too. The situation is even more disastrous with regards to the humanitarian situation and that is clearly due to the Syrian and Russian air attacks on the helpless people, hospitals and doctors. Of course, we will bring up this issue, in my opinion, given the situation, we cannot take any options off the table, including sanctions. First of all, we have to try and alleviate the suffering of the people by any means possible and that will be on the agenda tomorrow. We cannot expect any miracle to happen, but discussions are always necessary even when opinions differ dramatically." SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "Different discussions have taken place, be it on the advisory or legal level. Many phone calls have also taken place between the participants of the Normandy format and the head of states. Nevertheless, we still have not reached what we wanted or moved as forward as we would like to. It has stagnated in different aspects, be it in regards to the issue of the ceasefire agreement or humanitarian issues. Following careful deliberation and countless discussions, we have agreed that we have to entertain every possibility to try and achieve advancements." Video ID: 20161018-040 Video on Demand: http://www.ruptly.tv Contact: [email protected] Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ruptly Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ruptly