A history of distrust and reconciliation hangs over Merkel and Putin
BERLIN — The personal relationship between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Vladimir Putin of Russia is often boiled down to certain anecdotes: her put-downs about his role in the KGB, his attempts to rattle her by bringing his large black Labrador to a meeting, knowing her fear of dogs.
But the two countries’ long history of alienation and rapprochement was also at play when Merkel and Putin met recently at the German government’s villa in Meseberg, outside Berlin. It was their second meeting in three months.
The two leaders concluded the talks without issuing statements. Before the meeting began, they told reporters that bringing stability to eastern Ukraine and Syria and addressing the future of the Iran nuclear deal were the top issues on their agenda.
Analysts had viewed the meeting as a chance to put relations between Berlin and Moscow on more pragmatic ground after years of increasing tensions. Putin seemed to suggest the same in his comments beforehand.
“We are prepared to discuss problems in Russian-german relations as well as relevant international questions,” he said, adding that his country “attaches great meaning to mutually beneficial cooperation with Germany in political, economic and other spheres.”
In particular, Putin said, he wanted Germany’s help in rebuilding Syria’s infrastructure so refugees would be able to return to the country, which has been devastated by more than seven years of conflict. Russia has provided military backing for years to prop up President Bashar Assad of Syria against the rebel groups seeking his demise, helping him keep his grip on power.
“We must restore the supply of water and the sewage system,” along with access to medicine, Putin said. “These are the most basic things in which I think everyone is interested, including Europe.”
Merkel also pointed to a need for greater cooperation, though she suggested Moscow had a particular burden.
“Germany, but especially Russia, as a member of the U.N. Security Council, has a responsibility to find solutions,” Merkel said. “I am of the opinion that controversial issues can only be addressed in dialogue, and through dialogue.”
Bilateral issues about energy and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline were also up for discussion.
Here’s a look at the issues that define and influence German-russian ties and the leaders’ discussions.
Are Germany and Russia friends?
The two countries could be described as the ultimate international “frenemies,” with economic, cultural and intellectual ties reaching back centuries. Since the 18th century, they have cycled through a series of conflicts and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
reconciliations, most recently World War II and the Cold War.
Throughout the Soviet era, Germany was Moscow’s most important trading partner, and many Germans view the strong, positive ties to Moscow as a key contributor to the end of the Cold War and German reunification. When the Berlin Wall fell, Germany reached out to Moscow, partly to help the departing Soviet bloc countries integrate into the European Union, not only strengthening political and economic ties, but also investing in civil society.
But a break in relations that started with the Russian authorities’ repressive reaction to public protests in 2011 and 2012 worsened in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Merkel and Putin have still maintained regular contact. In May, the chancellor visited the Russian president at his summer residence in Sochi, and she told reporters she saw Saturday’s meeting as a continuation of those talks.
Susan Stewart, a senior associate with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, cautioned that the leaders’ meeting in Germany should not be viewed as a fundamental shift in German-russian relations. Instead, it reflected hope
that the two sides could compromise on Syria, energy and other key issues, while maintaining their differences over Russia’s role in the conflict in Ukraine.
What the countries wanted from each other
Both Germany and Russia have problems tied to Syria.
For Merkel, the issue is domestic. Her decision to allow more than 1 million people — most of them refugees from the war in Syria — to apply for asylum in Germany has been met with increasing resistance from the public and from her own government.
For Putin, it is not being quite able to find a solution to Syria’s civil war.
Both leaders could benefit from finding a way to ensure sufficient political stability in Syria to allow Germany to begin encouraging refugees to return, while Putin is seeking support from Berlin and the European Union to help rebuild the country, said Stefan Meister of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
“It is in the domestic political interest of the German government that Syrian refugees be able to return to a stable Syria,” Meister said.
A common interest could bring the countries closer after a period of deteriorating relations.
Russia had been surprised by Germany’s willingness to throw its full weight behind U.S. sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of Crimea, its involvement in the pro-kremlin insurgency in eastern Ukraine and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The move made clear to Russian leaders that the special relationship they believed they had shared with Berlin was over. Soon afterward, Germany found itself in the crosshairs of Russian cyberattacks and a campaign in the Russian news media that caused Germany to plunge in Russian public opinion.
“If you look at the image of Germany — and Merkel in particular — in Russian political discourse, you will see that it really has deteriorated tremendously,” said Sabine Fischer, head researcher on Eastern Europe at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
A survey cited Friday by Vedomosti, a Russian business daily, reflected this trend, showing approval of Merkel among Russians plummeting to 15 percent in August 2016 from 60 percent in February 2011.
Is Germany a ‘captive of Russia,’ as President Donald Trump says?
Germany imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, according to government statistics. That is more than any other European Union country, but less than the 60 to 70 percent that Trump cited when he accused Germany of being a “captive” of Russia at a NATO summit.
“That comment clearly taps into a stereotype in Washington that because of its economic ties, Germany is ‘weaker’ on Russia,” said Derek Chollet, an adviser on security and defense policy with the German Marshall Fund in Washington.
At the recent meeting, Putin rattled off a list of statistics that speak to the strength of the two countries’ economic ties, among them a 22 percent increase in trade in 2017, to $55 billion. He also addressed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was at the heart of Trump’s claim, insisting that it was needed to “meet the European economy’s growing demand for energy resources.”
“I want to emphasize again that Nord Stream 2 is a solely economic project and it closes no opportunities for transit shipments via Ukrainian territory,” Putin said.
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s close relationship to Putin and his decision to join the board of Russia’s state oil company, Rosneft, has bolstered that notion that Germany is beholden to Russia.
But Merkel has shown a willingness to draw a line, with her decisions to support sanctions against Russia in 2015 and to join the coordinated response to the poisoning in Britain this spring.
“My sense is Merkel, who in her own way makes clear that she understands the Russians and Putin as a type as well as anyone, has no illusions about Russia or Putin and their motives,” Chollet said.