With the alleged revelations that emerged from the elections, many believe that Donald Trump has a warm and fuzzy relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is one who has been reportedly pushing Trump to be harder on Russia. Early reports indicate that Merkel’s influence is having positive results.
On Feb. 7, Donald Trump used his first tweet of the day to distance himself from Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Twenty minutes later in Berlin, the Chancellery issued a statement detailing Angela Merkel’s latest conversation with the Russian leader.
The call was Merkel’s second in three weeks with Putin to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, a regular back channel to the president that she uses to press him to hold to the terms of the stalled peace process she helped negotiate.
Ensuring the so-called Minsk process remains alive is among Germany’s top foreign policy priorities — one that had looked to be in danger of collapse as Trump’s quest for better relations with Russia raised doubts about the U.S. commitment to Ukraine. This weekend in Munich, European officials got what they needed from the administration for now, while conceding that many question marks still hang over Trump’s views on Russia.
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