Germany’s new chancellor dithers in the face of Russia’s threats
But Olaf Scholz is starting to firm up
A CAMERA STOOD next to the table, live-streaming the proceedings. But if Vice-Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, the head of the German navy, did not know he was speaking on the record, it did not take long to find out. He told a think-tank in Delhi that Vladimir Putin wanted respect, and “probably also deserves” it. The West should recruit Russia as an ally against China, he added; something he, as a “radical Roman Catholic”, would welcome.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Misplaced sympathy”
Europe January 29th 2022
From the January 29th 2022 edition
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