Putin and Merkel Talk In Sochi about Iran, Ukraine and Nord Stream 2

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held wide-ranging talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Ukraine conflict, Europe's response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and the construction of a pipeline bringing gas from Russia to Germany.

Putin said Russian natural gas may still flow to neighboring Ukraine even after the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will carry Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

"A suspension of the transit of Russia gas through Ukraine is not assumed," Putin said after talks with Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on May 18. "Supplies will continue if they are economically viable."

Merkel said that "Germany believes Ukraine's role as a transit country should continue after the construction of Nord Stream 2... it has a strategic importance."

She added that Germany was ready to help ensure such an outcome.

Earlier on May 18, Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Merkel -- who is on her first visit to Russia in a year -- at a summer residence in Sochi, with Putin presenting her with a bouquet of flowers.

Merkel's trip to Russia comes amid tense relations between Berlin and Moscow.

Germany has been at the forefront of the European Union's push for sanctions against Russia since Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, helping start a war that has killed more than 10,300 people.

However, despite taking a hard line against Russia in recent years, Merkel has defended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which carries Russian natural gas to Germany but bypasses Ukraine, arguing that Germany badly needs to secure its gas supplies.

The $11 billion...