Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a robust defence on Saturday of Germany’s foreign trade relations and ties with Russia, urging global leaders meeting in Munich to work together to tackle the world’s problems, Reuters reported.

“If during the Cold War...we imported large amounts of Russian gas, I don’t know why times should be so much worse today that we can say: Russia remains a partner.”

“Do we want to make Russia only dependent on China?” she asked. “Is that our European interest? I don’t think so either.”

During a question and answer session, she added that it would be wrong to exclude Russia politically.

“Geostrategically, Europe can’t have an interest in cutting off all relations with Russia.”