MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - Cooperation in investigating the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin could foster the development of the relations between Russia and Germany, Minister President of Bavaria Markus Soder said.
"Cooperation in the investigation of the Berlin murder, this would help us a lot. And I think this would make our relations even better and more successful," Soder, who Russian President Vladimir Putin received on Wednesday, said.
There are people in Germany who are skeptical about Russia, and the media coverage focuses only on several issues, among which is the Normandy process, Soder said.
"A great deal of attention is being paid to the Berlin case, too. For us, it is very important that what it involves is cooperation, as we are convinced: cooperation between Germany and Russia, between Bavaria and Russia matters," he said.
Despite their differences, the two countries also share common values, Soder said.
"Our cooperation with Moscow has been very good. We want to broaden it. I have already agreed to invite the Moscow mayor to the Oktoberfest, I hope he will like it there," he said.
Putin, in turn, said that Moscow is not Bavaria's only partner in Russia and that the cooperation involves many Russian regions.
"Bavarian representatives have been very active in Russia since 1995 - Bavaria opened its mission in Russia [then] and has been working here quite successfully in a variety of areas. Suffice to say that one in five German companies operating in Russia is of Bavarian provenance, and over half of all big German investments in Russia's economy were organized precisely by companies registered in Bavaria," Putin said.
Khangoshvili, who fought in the armed conflict in Chechnya, was murdered in Berlin last summer. He was shot dead in the city center on the way to a mosque. A Russian suspect was arrested.
German authorities claimed they had requested Russia's help with the inquiry but the latter provided no information. This prompted Germany to declare two employees of the Russian Embassy to Germany personae non gratae. Russia responded by expelling two German diplomats from Moscow. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Germany's request for legal assistance had been sent after it expelled the Russian diplomats.
Following the Normandy Four summit in Paris on December 9, Putin commented on the issue during a joint press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel: "Russia had many times raised the issue before German colleagues that this bandit and killer should have been extradited. Regrettably, we got no mutual understanding."