Trump's global disruption pushes Merkel closer to Putin's orbit

Chicago Tribune ^ | 2018 | Patrick Donahue and Ilya Arkhipov

[CondoleezzaProtege]

As Donald Trump shakes up the global order, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is being pushed closer toward a more predictable partner in Moscow.

Now they're in the same corner trying to shield businesses from U.S. sanctions, defend the Iran nuclear accord ditched by Trump and rebuffing American objections to a new gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany.

Rapprochement with Russia is now a core policy objective in Berlin.

Even as the German leader seeks out Russia, Trump's spurning of global conventions on climate, trade and the Middle East is spooking her.

"Putin likes the irritation that Trump has created with Europe," said Josef Janning, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

For Putin, it's an opportunity to chip away at his diplomatic isolation from Europe since Russia was dropped from the Group of Eight in 2014.

That includes Nord Stream 2, which Putin and Merkel have a joint interest in completing over U.S. objections. The Trump administration has threatened sanctions on companies working on the pipeline because more Russian gas would bypass Ukraine on its way to Germany.

Merkel, a Russophile and Russian speaker who grew up in communist East Germany, and Putin, a former KGB agent who served in the eastern German city of Dresden, are familiar with each other's background like perhaps no other major world leaders.

[SunkenCiv]

Merkel, a Russophile and Russian speaker who grew up in communist East Germany, and Putin, a former KGB agent who served in the eastern German city of Dresden...

...was already in the bag for Pooty-Poot long before Trump started his campaign for the nomination. And Obama lover Condi Rice sucks.

[SunkenCiv]

They could be considering going nuclear generation sooner or later this will become a political issue once the Ruskys put the squeeze on that resource.

They won't. The pebble bed nuke architecture was all but ready for a buildout, but the German Greens (all of them are Soviet-style left wingers) killed nuclear power in Germany. The only way for Germany to eventually reach a positive outcome will be through a shrinking population and self-extinction. Come to think of it, that's a positive outcome for the rest of the world.