When Angela Merkel meets Vladimir Putin in Sochi, there will be new common ground to discuss: Germany and Russia both want to save the Iran deal. Beyond that, however, there are some serious differences.
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Hacker attacks
German secret services believe that Russian state agencies are behind cyberattacks on Germany. Attacks on the German Bundestag in 2015, as well as attacks on individual parties and foundations in Germany, are said to have been controlled from Russia. The German domestic intelligence service, BfV, also suspects Russia of being behind an attack on the German government network that transpired in February 2018. Large amounts of data were stolen during the attacks. Both parliament and the federal government have condemned the hacker attacks.
Russia's role in Syria
By supporting Syrian leader Bashar Assad, Russia is, from a German perspective, jointly responsible for war crimes in Syria. The German government strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Douma, northeast of Damascus. Although Germany did not take part in the Western powers' military retaliation, Angela Merkel declared that "Russia, as Assad's ally, must share responsibility here." The chancellor still wants to talk to President Putin about the chemical weapons attack, in which at least 60 people are alleged to have been killed.
Germany views the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 as a breach of international law. Vladimir Putin has, this week, opened a new bridge from Russia to Crimea. Foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Democrats and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Jürgen Hardt, told DW that the bridge is an "illegal construction." Germany has taken Ukraine's side in the dispute over the peninsula and, together with the EU and the US, imposed sanctions against Russia.
Aggressive intelligence activities
The Skripal case also caused outrage in Germany. Britain is convinced that Russia is behind the poison attack on the ex-spy and his daughter. Evidence provided by British authorities has also convinced Germany of this position and led the German government to expel four Russian diplomats. The attack in the southern British town of Salisbury and the hacker attacks on the German government are seen as Russia's most aggressive acts in Europe. Moscow is also believed to be responsible for campaigns of manipulation and disinformation across the European Union. EU Security Commissioner Julian King told DW that his team has counted over 3,000 cases of Russian propaganda in Europe.
The poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has caused a standoff between Russia and the UK. Russia has denied knowledge of the poisoning but that hasn't stopped other countries taking action.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Caddick
Ex-Russian spy poisoned
On March 4, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter were found slumped on a bench outside a shopping center in the British town of Salisbury. Authorities said both were in a critical condition after being exposed to an "unknown substance." Skripal was a former general of Russian military intelligence who had been convicted in Russia for spying for the UK.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass
Russia denies involvement
Russia denied any knowledge of the poisoning, which echoed the murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. "We see that such a tragic situation happened," Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on March 6. "But we don't have information about what could be the cause, what this person did."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/M. Metzel
Nerve agent suspected
On March 7, British police said they suspected a very rare nerve agent was behind the poisoning of Skripal. "This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent," Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said in a statement. "I can also confirm that we believe the two people originally who became unwell were targeted specifically."
British police said more than 21 people had sought medical treatment as a result of the nerve agent attack. On March 8, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the House of Commons that enormous resources were being used to determine who was behind the attack. Rudd called the use of a chemical nerve agent on British soil a "brazen and reckless" act that would be answered with all possible force.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/A. Matthews
May gives Russia a deadline
On March 12, British Prime Minister Theresa May told lawmakers it was "highly likely" Russia was behind the poisoning. May said the Russian government had either ordered the attack or lost control of the Russian-produced chemical nerve agent Novichok. She gave Moscow until midnight on Tuesday to explain its Novichok program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/empics/PA Wire
EU supports UK
On March 13, vice president of the European Commission European Union, Valdis Dombrovskis, said the EU would stand in solidarity with Britain after London accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack. When asked if the EU might impose sanctions of Russia if it was agreed Moscow was responsible for the attack, Dombrovskis said: "Of course, the UK can count on EU solidarity in this regard."
Image: picture-alliance/empics/Y. Mok
Russia calls UK bluff
Russia failed to respond to May’s midnight deadline for an explanation of its suspected involvement in the poisoning. On March 14, a spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in London said Moscow would not respond "until it receives samples of the chemical substance." May had said a "full range" of retaliatory measures would be considered if Moscow did not give a "credible response" by the deadline.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein
UK announces expulsions of diplomats
After Russia failed to give an explanation, May announced on March 14 that the UK would expel 23 Russian diplomats identified as "undeclared intelligence officers." May also said the UK would suspend all high-level bilateral contact with Russia. The biggest expulsions from London in 30 years would "fundamentally degrade Russian intelligence capability for years to come," May said.
Image: picture alliance/TASS/dpa/I. Dmitryachev
France, Germany, UK, US blame Russia
On March 15, the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and US released a joint statement that demanded "complete disclosure" from Russia saying there is "no plausible alternative" to Moscow's involvement. The statement said the attack using "a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia" constituted "an assault on UK sovereignty" that threatened "the security of us all."
Image: picture alliance/NurPhoto/A. Pezzali
Russia expels British diplomats
In retaliation to the UK, Russia said it would also expel 23 British diplomats, giving them the same one-week deadline. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would also close the British Council in Russia, and might take further measures against Britain in the event of more "hostile steps" from London. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, had said Moscow would "of course" respond with expulsions.
"It's complete drivel, rubbish, nonsense that somebody in Russia would allow themselves to do such a thing ahead of elections and the World Cup," Putin said on March 19. "It's quite obvious that if it were a military-grade nerve agent, people would have died on the spot." Putin said Moscow "destroyed all our chemical weapons under international oversight unlike some of our partners."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Klimentyev
UK says Novichok was used
On March 20, UK scientists determined Skripal was poisoned using a little-known nerve agent from a group of chemical compounds known as Novichok. The family of compounds, which were developed in the 1970s and 80s, comprise numerous nerve agents. The Soviets once developed these weapons to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention. Novichok-5 and Novichok-7 are supposed to be the most dangerous.
Image: Getty Images/C.J. Ratcliffe
Mass Russian diplomat expulsions
A number of EU countries teamed together on March 26 and simultaneously announced they would be expelling Russian diplomats. Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia and Ukraine all announced they would be expelling Russian envoys. The US followed suit with the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats and announced the closure of Moscow's consulate in Seattle.
Image: Reuters/G. Garanich
Poison on front door
UK police found the highest concentration of the nerve agent on the front door of the Skripal's family home in Salisbury. They believe that is where Skripal and his daughter must have first come into contact with the poison. It was likely mixed in with a "gloopy substance" smeared on the door handle.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/F. Augstein
New Novichok victims
In early July, weeks after both Skripals were discharged from the Salisbury hospital, another two people were apparently poisoned with the same substance in the nearby town of Amesbury. A 45-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were found unconscious and were transported to the same hospital in critical condition.
Image: Getty Images/J. Taylor
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Lack of progress in eastern Ukraine
Germany is frustrated by the situation in eastern Ukraine. Fighting is continuing on the Ukrainian-Russian border, using heavy weapons. The OSCE has documented more than 400,000 violations of the peace process that was negotiated in the Minsk Agreement. German and French diplomats recently met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the situation. The last meeting with Putin in the Normandy contact group, which is a diplomatic group of senior representatives from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France, took place in February. Angela Merkel has repeatedly called on the Russian president to exert his influence on the pro-Russian separatists.