President Putin addressing the civic forum in Germany

In his first public remarks since arriving in Germany, Vladimir Putin told a civic forum he was sure co-operation between Russia and Germany would continue after upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Russia.

The Russian leader went on to say that his country and Germany shared many of the same goals.

“Russia and Germany are probably closer than ever in their views on the way Europe should develop.

Naturally, we still have – and will have – differences of opinion on the present situation, in our approaches to various problems. But it is crystal clear that we both are willing to work on these problems. It's not a matter of whether we are willing to solve them; we are willing. The only difference we may have is in the way we reach our goals – while the goals we pursue are the same,” the Russian leader noted.