Merkel spawns Putin

berlin - Russian President Vladimir Putin sees Germany as a 'leading partner'. Last year, trade between the two countries grew by 22 percent to 43 billion euros, Putin said Saturday for his meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two had to defend an uncomfortable but strong bond in Schloss Meseberg in Berlin that was created by a gas pipeline that is increasingly sensitive in the rest of the EU, and for which Merkel has to justify itself. She started a small charm offensive to Ukraine, of which Putin is not a fan.

The German-Russian relations have been strained since Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in 2014 and provided military support to separatists in eastern Ukraine. As a result, many bilateral contacts were suspended and trade was significantly reduced as a result of EU sanctions.

At the same time, Germany gets a lot of criticism internationally, and especially within the EU, because it is macro-economically close to Russia: the two countries have linked their fate with Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline which critics say Ukraine sidelined.