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| Angela Merkel raises concerns with Vladimir Putin over persecution of gay people in Chechnya | Angela Merkel raises concerns with Vladimir Putin over persecution of gay people in Chechnya |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Angela Merkel has raised concern over the reported prosecution of gay men in Chechnya with Vladimir Putin. | Angela Merkel has raised concern over the reported prosecution of gay men in Chechnya with Vladimir Putin. |
| The German Chancellor raised the alleged capture and torture of more than 100 people at a joint press conference with the Russian President following wide-ranging talks in Sochi. | |
| The Kremlin has backed the Chechen government's denials over the brutal campaign, saying it had "no information" to support research by journalists and human rights groups. | |
| Ms Merkel called on the Russian government to properly investigate the allegations and ensure that LGBT people are fully protected in the territories and elsewhere. | |
| She also called for freedom of assembly to be protected, after Russian riot police arrested protesters demonstrating against the persecution. | |
| “It’s important to have the right to demonstrate in a democracy, and the role of NGOs is very importance,” Ms Merkel said. | |
| “I asked Mr Putin to use his influence to protect these minority rights, as well as in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” | |
| Russia’s Supreme Court recently banned the Christian sect as an “extremist organisation”, placing it under the same laws as Isis and Nazis. | |
| Ukraine and Syria dominated the pair's meeting, with the German Chancellor calling on Russia to guarantee repeatedly failed ceasefires in both wars. | |
| In Ukraine, Russia supports separatist rebels fighting the EU-backed Kiev government, while it is allied with President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. | |
| Mr Putin claimed his government condemns the use of chemical weapons by any party in the conflict and called for an investigation. | |
| "Those guilty must be found and punished, but this can be only done after an impartial investigation," he said. | |
| “A solution in Syria can be only found by peaceful means and under the aegis of the United Nations." | |
| But the Kremlin has repeatedly refuted reports - including from French intelligence services - saying a sarin gas attack that killed dozens of civilians in Khan Sheikhoun was carried out by the regime. | |
| In Ukraine, a peace agreement struck in Minsk has been repeatedly violated by both sides as fighting continues. | |
| Mr Putin claimed the Ukrainian government was the illegitimate product of a "coup" against pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych, and blamed Kiev for the separation of two rebel republics. | |
| Ms Merkel said she "disagreed" with his interpretation of the conflict, where Russia was accused of violating international law by annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. |