NEWSLINK: Will the Cold Snap in Russian-German Relations Last?

November 15, 2012 JRL Russia List Europe, EU

(Will the Cold Snap in Russian-German Relations Last? – RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – November 15, 2012 – Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal http://en.ria.ru/columnists/20121115/177487605.html)

Writing for RIA Novosti, Russia in Global Affairs commentator Fyodor Lukyanov considers the state of relations between Russia and Germany:

Russian-German relations have hit a cold snap ahead of the upcoming summit in Moscow. President Putin’s relationship with Chancellor Merkel has never been warm, but this time the atmosphere could be described as a political ice age.

The conflict was sparked by Merkel’s commissioner on German-Russian relations, Andreas Schockenhoff, a prominent conservative politician and deputy head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party in parliament. His toughly worded report on Russia’s domestic and foreign policy embarrassed the German Foreign Ministry, which suggested he moderate it. The Russian Foreign Ministry then refused to deal with Schockenhoff, stating that it no longer recognizes his authority.

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