NEWS ANALYSIS: Trump’s attacks on Merkel make her more receptive to Putin
Merkel has been Putin’s most implacable critic since he annexed Crimea, but will be on the back foot when she hosts him for their first bilateral meeting in five years
Moscow/Berlin — The whirlwind that is US President Donald tearing through international relations, may be forcing Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin to come together after years of confrontation. Merkel has been Putin’s most implacable critic since he annexed Crimea in 2014, plunging relations to their worst in decades. On Saturday, however, the German chancellor will welcome the Russian president to an 18th century Baroque palace near Berlin for their first bilateral meeting in Germany in more than five years, handing Putin a major breakthrough in ending Russia’s isolation and reaffirming Merkel’s pivotal role in Europe despite election setbacks. "Merkel is hedging and Putin is exploiting," says Josef Janning, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. After Trump met Putin while attacking Merkel and the German economy, Janning says, "she needs to have her own contact with Putin. She doesn’t want to give up the chance of keeping Putin within a margin...
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