Putin envoy and German far right are preparing to discuss resuming Russian gas supplies, Reuters says

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin's chief economic envoy, and the leadership of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have begun preparations for a meeting next year to discuss resuming gas supplies to Germany.

Source: Reuters, citing two people familiar with the plan, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Reuters said discussions about a possible meeting as early as March highlight close ties between Moscow and the AfD, which, although blocked from power by a coalition ‌of its rivals, is the most popular party among German voters.

Quote: "The meeting would be attended by Kirill Dmitriev, who is a close adviser to Putin and who heads Russia's sovereign wealth fund, as well as AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, one of the people said.

Before the sanctions imposed over Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia supplied more than a third ​of Germany's crude oil imports and more than half of its natural gas."

Details: The source said the meeting will take place only if Russia and Ukraine first agree on the framework for a peace settlement, and the organisers hope it will bring together the AfD, Russia and the United States. Possible locations for the summit include Israel, the United Arab Emirates and India, they added.

In a June interview with Reuters, Weidel called for an end to the boycott of Russian oil and gas to support Germany's struggling economy.

Dmitriev attended a meeting in Moscow this month with US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The organisers had hoped Witkoff and Kushner would also attend the gas meeting, which would discuss the resumption of operations of the Nord Stream Russian gas pipelines, one of the sources said.

A senior US official told Reuters that Witkoff and Kushner had not been informed about the proposed summit and had not received invitations to it.

Any such meeting would be largely symbolic, as the AfD is not in government.

The AfD presents its call to resume Russian gas supplies as a pragmatic step, with Weidel describing "cheap energy from Russia" as "the secret of the success of 'Made in Germany'".

The AfD hopes the meeting will demonstrate its foreign policy credentials and expose the government's failure to tackle high energy prices, one of the sources said.

Background: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas previously spoke about the danger posed by political forces that overlook the Russian threat to Europe, amid the far-right AfD's victory in elections in Saxony-Anhalt.

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