Ukraine events inflicted severe damage on EU-Russia cooperation – Merkel

Berlin sees the events in Ukraine as a threat to the European peace system and finds that they have inflicted severe damage on Russian-EU relations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.

"The annexation of Crimea, which was carried out in violation of international law, and the military action in Ukraine inflicted severe damage on our cooperation because we see in it a threat to the European peace system," she said following negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.