Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich, Members of the European Parliament from the BSW party, reported that they were hosted in Moscow by several associates of Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking politicians.
After completing their several-day trip, the two BSW politicians shared details of their meetings, which included discussions with several key figures. They spoke with Andrei Klimov of the ruling party United Russia, Mikhail Svyidkoi, the government’s cultural envoy, Sergei Karaganow, a government foreign policy advisor, and Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy. They also met with Putin advisors Daniil Bisslinger and Anton Kobyakov.
Their activities also included receiving hospitality from Alexey Gromyko, director of the Academy of Sciences’ European Institute, and his deputy, Vladislav Below. Additionally, they interviewed journalists and attended events such as a performance at the Moscow Music Theatre and the opening ceremony of the Moscow Jazz Days.
The BSW politicians noted that the overarching impression from their conversations in Russia is that the situation is extremely serious, but there is a willingness on the Russian side to resume enhanced dialogue. They emphasized that all their interlocutors were receptive to the idea of establishing initial common ground through discussions conducted at levels below government.
While the Moscow visitors concede that such talks are unlikely to provide a short-term solution to the grave conflicts, they intend to proceed with developing ideas for a specific “dialogue format.” von der Schulenburg and Firmenich stressed that the trip was undertaken in their capacity as European Parliament members.
