Backdrop for Merkel-Putin meeting: Trump’s criticisms
FRANKFURT, GERMANY — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will have plenty to talk about when they meet today — thanks in no small part to U.S. President Donald Trump, whose sanctions and criticisms over trade, energy and NATO have created new worries for both leaders.
The two will meet at the German government’s guest house outside Berlin and will give short statements beforehand but aren’t planning a news conference, German officials have said. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert has said that topics will include the civil war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and energy questions.
Putin is facing the possibility of more U.S. sanctions on Russia imposed by Trump, and has an interest in softening or heading off any European support for them. Meanwhile, both countries want to move ahead with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline — roundly criticized by Trump as a form of Russian control over Germany.
Stefan Meister, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said that there is “an increased interest on both sides to talk about topics of common interest” and that, in part because of Trump, the two sides have shifted focus from earlier meetings that focused on Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Merkel was a leading supporter of sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
The two leaders are far from being allies, however. Meister wrote in an analysis for the council that the talks will still involve “hard bargaining” from Putin’s end and neither side is likely to make significant compromises — but both could send a signal that they will “not let themselves be pressured by Trump.”
The background to this meeting includes Trump’s announcement that he plans to impose sanctions on Russia in response to the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain. A first set of sanctions would target U.S. exports of goods with potential military use starting Aug. 22, while a second set of broader sanctions could take effect 90 days later if Russia does not confirm it is no longer using chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections. Russia has denied involvement in the poisoning.
Meister said Putin can use the meeting to “send a signal to Washington that there are allies of the U.S. that still do business with Russia.” Beyond that, he can push for Germany and the European Union not to support further sanctions, particularly a second round that might hit businesses working with the Nord Stream 2 project.
The project would add another natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, allowing more Russian gas to bypass Ukraine and Poland. Trump has criticized Nord Stream 2 and the gas supplies, saying German is “totally controlled” by Russia by being dependent on the energy.