The Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent greetings to those attending the XIII conference of sister cities country pairs, which opened in the German Karlsruhe.
"Sister city relationships are an important part of bilateral cooperation between Russia and Germany, bringing together not only megacities such as Moscow and Berlin, St. Petersburg and Hamburg, Samara and Stuttgart, but also dozens of small towns, - said the President of the Russian Federation, BelTA news Agency.- They are a popular and effective channel of direct dialogue between the civil societies of our countries."
"through cooperation of the twin cities and regions is a regular exchange of practical experience between research centers and educational institutions, community organizations, businesses and local authorities," showed Putin. He said that in the framework of such interaction are numerous expositions, conferences, festivals, develops and implements joint projects in the social, infrastructure, industrial, and other innovative areas."" I am confident that it will serve the further development of constructive relations between cities and regions of Russia and Germany, will help build understanding and trust between our peoples ", - noticed the head. In welcoming the Chancellor reported that " the year 2015 is marked by a serious examination of the relations between Germany and Russia ", RIA " Novosti "." most importantly, the situation in Ukraine leads to significant differences. In this connection it is extremely important to use every opportunity for open conversation. Direct dialogue is especially valuable for the conference of the German-Russian twin cities ", - reported in the p repetitii. Conference in Karlsruhe held under the motto " 70 years since the end of combat actions: the power of inter-municipal contacts. She has collected more than 400 authorized cities and communes of Russia and Germany, public organizations. Remember, in June, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has included the Russian Federation in the number of global threats together with Ebola and Islamic state.

sections: Politics