Can Putin’s Merkel Meeting Lead to Easing of Russian Sanctions?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Sochi, Russia, where she will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As tensions between the West and the Russia run high, will the two leaders leave with anything to show for their meeting?

In order to better understand the political reality of today's Germany, Radio Sputnik's Brian Becker spoke with geopolitical analyst Rainer Rothfuss.

Rothfuss pointed out that public perception of Russia among Germans is not as straightforward as the government wants it to be. According to Rothfuss, people in Germany remember how the West supported the secession of Kosovo from Serbia despite Serbia's objections, and wonder why they should blame Russia for accepting the secessionist region whose population asked for it.

According to Rothfuss, people would rather see debates, and the dynamic development of solutions to the situation, instead of putting all responsibility on Russia.

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​Many in Germany, however, do believe the state-run propaganda out of Berlin, which Ruthfoss called "one-sided," and thus society in Germany is largely divided as far as its attitude towards Russia.

As for the crisis in Ukraine, Rothfuss pointed out that Poroshenko's government in Kiev still believes "or is made to believe by some prominent actors in the United States," that the crisis can be solved via military power.

Thanks to the strong support voiced by US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham and other Western leaders, Poroshenko believes he can keep going in the same direction, and does not need to change his approach to the Eastern Ukraine problem, as the West almost unanimously puts the blame on Russia.

According to Rothfuss, Merkel is under political pressure from US President Donald Trump, who is likely to seek to minimize Germany's trade surplus with the US. Germany thus gets caught between two fires: with a recessing trade balance with the US, Berlin will have to seek the Russian market again, which is currently unavailable due to the sanctions, Rothfuss noted.

Threatening the German economy will threaten Merkel's position in the upcoming elections, he added.

"We in Germany are asking ourselves whether Angela Merkel really serves the interests of Germany… because sanctions against Russia were never in the interests of Germany," Rothfuss said. "It was more of the sacrifice towards the international community."

"It's rather the questions of whose interests Angela Merkel does serve," he added.

Rothfuss noted that it is definitely not the government in Washington, as Merkel changed her attitude towards the US government as soon as Donald Trump entered the Oval Office.

"It must be the other actors that might coincide with the ‘deep state' or the globalists, who also try to pressure the government in Washington to serve their interests," Rothfuss speculated.

He pointed out that Merkel rarely followed public opinion polls, instead adhering to some other agenda, which may be the globalists', so while Rothfuss's prediction of the outcome of talks with Putin is pessimistic, it would be best to wait for the talks to happen, he said.