Last year didn’t actually start badly for German-Russian relations. It was 2020 and the swing ride was still spinning on snow-covered Red Square when Angela Merkel arrived in mid-January for talks with Vladimir Putin. The German chancellor needed Moscow’s help because that was the only way she could carry out the big Libya summit with which Germany wanted to present itself as an arbiter of peace that same month.
Spiegel: German-Russian relations at a new low
From left, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel listen to Russia's President Vladimir Putin as they attend a press conference after a summit on Ukraine at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on December 9, 2019. - Leaders aim for new withdrawal of forces from Ukraine conflict zones by March 2020, according to a communique on December 9, 2019. (Photo by CHARLES PLATIAU / POOL / AFP)
