Merkel says there is no link between Syria and Ukraine crises

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that western countries would not make concessions to Russia in the Ukraine crisis in order to win its support for a political solution in Syria, saying the two crises had nothing to do with each other. "For us the question of Syria is not linked to the question of Minsk," she said, referring to the peace deal aimed at solving the Ukraine standoff. Ukraine quite rightly expects that its territorial integrity is respected, perhaps not with regard to C