Germany's Schaeuble wants to foster Mideast strategy with Russia

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble gestures during the session 'The Future of Europe' at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe needs to make a greater contribution to stabilising the Middle East and should think about developing a joint strategy with Russia to reduce tensions between regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Schaeuble, a vastly experienced member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Europe could not have a strategy in the Middle East or Africa without working with the United States and Russia.