BERLIN, Jul 2 Germany should not permanently cut off its access to Russian gas, and it should also seek to resolve the conflict in Ukraine through diplomacy, Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister of the German state of Saxony, said in an interview with the Funke media group.
«We must not permanently block our way to Russian gas,» Kretschmer said.
The Minister does not want to hear the phrase «Russia — never again», and calls the so-called change of the energy era in Germany a failed undertaking against the backdrop of a sharp rise in energy prices and the fact that ordinary people «cannot to make ends meet».
“It would be important to think about everything again: about nuclear energy, abandoning coal, domestic gas, Nord Stream, expanding renewable energy sources — there are many ways to reach a compromise,” he stressed.
As for the conflict in Ukraine, Kretschmer is in favor of a diplomatic solution, which is also advocated by the majority of the German population.
«And I expect the federal government to remain open to it,» he added.