Die Beziehungen zwischen Russland und Deutschland im Zeitraum 2000-2016

At the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, Russian-German relations developed into a strategic partnership, as established by Schröder and Putin. The countries were connected through close and productive cooperation. However, by the second decade of the twenty-first century, the emergence of structural crises had significant impacts on the relationships of all major actors in the international system, including Russian-German relations. The problems that arose as an immediate consequence of the Ukraine crisis and were further exacerbated by it have jeopardized the close partnership between Russia and Germany. Since 2014, the concept of a German-Russian strategic partnership has hardly been mentioned, and plans for the near future between Moscow and Berlin are increasingly shaped by the phrases 'restoration of trust' and 'maintenance of dialogue.' It would be at least premature to assert a downward trend in German-Russian relations. It is also significant that the Ukraine crisis, which has become the main source of problems in the interaction between the states, is still ongoing, and therefore the potential prospects for Russian-German dialogue remain unclear.