Topline
Frank-Walter Steinmeier—a German politician who serves as the country’s president—admitted Monday his previous openness to Russia and support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline were mistakes, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine causes some German officials to publicly regret their prior interest in forging stronger ties with Russia.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks to the media on May 28, 2021 in Berlin.
Key Facts
Steinmeier told reporters he was wrong to assume Russian President Vladimir Putin would not “embrace his country's complete economic, political and moral ruin for the sake of his imperial madness,” according to a translation published by Reuters.
The president and former foreign minister called his prior backing of the Nord Stream 2 project “clearly a mistake,” and said Germany was “sticking to a bridge in which Russia no longer believed and which other partners had warned us against.”
Last year, Steinmeier defended Nord Stream 2—an undersea pipeline that would’ve connected Germany with gas-rich Russia—by calling petroleum “one of the last bridges between Russia and Europe” and arguing “burning bridges is not a sign of strength.”
Critics have argued Nord Stream 2 could boost Germany’s reliance on Russia and deprive Ukraine of revenue from transporting gas over land, and the German government put the still-unopened pipeline on hold in February.
Key Background
Steinmeier served as Germany’s foreign minister for two stints in the late 2000s and mid-2010s, before becoming president—a largely ceremonial role—in 2017. He is known for his long-standing interest in improving relations with Russia, though he criticized Russia for annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and tried to broker a resolution to the eight-year-long conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, criticism sharpened toward Germany’s prior attempts to maintain stable diplomatic and economic links with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested Germany had prioritized economic interests—including Nord Stream 2—rather than hemming in Russia in a scathing speech to German lawmakers last month, and Zelensky excoriated former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday for her resistance to making Ukraine a NATO member.
Chief Critic
Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, accused Steinmeier of forging a “web of contacts with Russia for decades” in an interview published Sunday, according to German news outlet Deutsche Welle.
Contra
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the German government signaled a massive shift in its approach to Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to boost the country’s military spending and agreed to send lethal aid to Ukraine.
Tangent
France has also faced some criticism for its approach to Russia. On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki questioned French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to speak on the phone with Putin: “Nobody negotiated with Hitler,” he said.
Further Reading
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier under fire for Russia ties (Deutsche Welle)
