...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as
Mom...
says Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine for a peace plan there to work.
Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...in a phone call late Monday that the complete withdrawal must accompany a securing of the Russian-Ukrainian border to prevent fighters and arms flowing to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
She also welcomed talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
on free trade, and called for such trilateral talks to address the issue of natural gas deliveries from Russia to Ukraine.
Ukraine and the West have repeatedly contended that Russia is fueling the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine with manpower, weapons and expertise, something that Moscow denies.
The cease-fire between rebels and Ukrainian troops took effect on Sept. 5 but has been violated repeatedly.