The Russian leader hosted his German counterpart in the Kremlin on Saturday. The main part of the talks was held behind closed doors and revolved around the "most hot" issues, as Putin put it.

He and Merkel spoke about relations between the two countries, economic cooperation, as well as the situation in Syria, Libya and the explosive situation in the Middle East, according to the Kremlin press service. The pair also discussed the civil conflict in the east of Ukraine, as well as the steps required to stop the years-long bloodshed, agreed during the so-called Normandy Four meeting in December 2019.

While the agenda of the talks had already been revealed, the media stakeout is expected to shed more light on what exactly Putin and Merkel discussed.

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