German politicians have welcomed with interest and hope the meeting in Geneva between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden
At the time of writing, the official reaction from Berlin is a tweet by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD), who wrote:
“The meeting between the US and Russian presidents was a starting point. They agreed on various formats of conversation, including disarmament and arms control. This is a precondition if we want to come to compromises and solutions at some point in the future”.
The comment by Johann Wadeful, deputy head of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag, which was published on the parliamentary group’s official website, is revealing. The following theses of the author are noteworthy. Wadeful applauded Biden’s “political courage and foresight” in deciding to meet Putin quickly because “we cannot avoid a dialogue with Russia on important international issues, including the resolution of acute foreign policy crises”.
With these talks, the US president “also shows that he is serious about a close partnership with Europe, because the positive momentum of US-Russian cooperation has a direct positive impact on Europe’s security.”
With talks on cybersecurity, nuclear disarmament and the crises in Syria, Libya and with Iran, the most important issues are now being addressed. It is to be hoped that rapid progress will be made on these key issues in the “strategic dialogue”, and that the dialogue itself will lead to progress on Ukraine in the Normandy format.
The fact that the Russian president is committed to this process and to the Minsk agreements is a good sign. At the same time, Vaduful stresses: “Importantly, Biden is very critical of the Kremlin’s relationship with regime critics and civil society institutions. This is a serious problem for the EU as well.”
Alexander Lambsdorff, who represents the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), which is not part of the ruling coalition, has a slightly different perspective. He calls Russia an important country which in some cases makes “false moves”. Economically it cannot be called strong, but the fact is that it is one of the great powers of the 21st century, as the meeting in Geneva confirmed. The talks between Biden and Putin also fit into the Russian domestic context of the forthcoming elections in September, which the German politician a priori calls “undemocratic”.
For Germany, the meeting of the two presidents was “a very good sign”, stated Lambsdorff. According to him, it is always better when the U.S. is talking to other countries and Russia is ready for dialogue. Because “we, like Germany, are too small” to resolve the global arms race alone. Washington and Moscow are the largest nuclear powers in the world, if dialogue can contribute to a certain predictability, then “this is good news for all other countries.” At the same time, the politician, like Vaduful, speaks of sympathy for Russia, but notes that “we are just as critical of the violation of liberal values”.
Renowned German journalist Gabor Steingart quotes former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) in his column for Focus magazine. The politician gives a positive assessment of Biden’s first visit to Europe. He notes that the American president is “reinventing the West”, calling it his “great mission” to restore “the community of democracies and renew the values of liberal democracies”.
Gabriel suggests that this mission means the arrival of a period of new turbulence and advises Europeans to “not hesitate to grab Biden’s outstretched hand”. The journalist himself says in this regard that the Americans want to feel that the Europeans want to get along with them. But the problem is that “for them “the Russian” is an antipode, while for us it is always a neighbour.
Let’s assume the following in this regard. First. Berlin intends to build an alliance with Washington on the basis of “values” and not geopolitics. The emphasis on “liberal values” will enable Germany to seek concessions from the US to expand German exports to the US market and to waive financial sanctions and penalties against German suppliers of goods and services. This would allow Germany to make money without the risk of being affected by the risks of Washington’s geopolitical projects and to use the toolkit of “liberal values” against Russia to adjust its policies.
Second. It is possible that Berlin might try to establish a trilateral US-Germany-Russia alliance, taking the position of a mediator who gets along equally well with both Washington and Moscow. This format would give Germany an opportunity to allay American fears about German-Russian energy cooperation, which directly affects the Nord Stream 2 project in its current gas and prospective hydrogen dimensions. In return, Berlin could pledge U.S. support for Ukraine to prevent its uncontrolled disintegration, which would have a negative impact on the political image of the United States.
Third. The main losers in Germany in this situation are the German Greens and personally the co-chairman of the party, Annalena Berbock, who has been nominated for the position of Chancellor. Overwhelming majority of German parties negatively perceived the Greens’ rise in popularity in spring this year, perceiving this political force as a Trojan horse of those structures in the USA that would like to disrupt the dialogue between Berlin and Moscow. The Greens’ rating is now deflating, their support has fallen below 20%.
The creation of a US-Germany-Russia triangle would be capable of causing Washington to withdraw its support for Berbock. As for the external contour, Poland has been defeated, which will be marginalised in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the post-Soviet space in a situation of US betting on Berlin and agreements with Moscow.
Russtrat