Germany's foreign minister today said his country remained open to dialogue with Russia and hoped eventually to "rebuild trust", even as tensions soar following a wave of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions over a poisoning row.
"Russia's behaviour in recent years has undoubtedly caused a lot of trust to be lost," Heiko Maas said in an interview with German daily Bild am Sonntag.
"At the same time, we need Russia as a partner, to resolve regional conflicts, for disarmament and as an important pillar for the multilateral order," he went on.
"That's why we are open to dialogue and hope to rebuild trust bit by bit if Russia is willing to do so."