German-Russian Relations

As Russian troops continue the build up on Ukraine’s border some people are suggesting Germany toughen their rhetoric and policies. But even Ukrainian President Zelensky has asked the Biden administration to tone it down, so what’s the move?

The history of these nations is as hard as it gets, with a brutal invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany during WWII leaving millions of dead soldiers and civilians between them, followed by a long occupation of East Germany by the Kremlin. These experiences still weigh heavy on the world and on the relationship between the two countries.

To get a better sense of the domestic conversation in Germany, Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr welcomes Sarah Pagung from the German Council on Foreign Relations and Janis Kluge from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, Germany.

If peace is going to be maintained it may be up to the new German administration to turn down the heat because the gun runners in Washington are doing what they do best: stoking the market.

Thanks for listening!

Sarah Pagung

Sarah Pagung has been DGAP associate fellow since February 2019. Her research focuses on Russian foreign and information policies and on Moldova. Until December 2018, Pagung worked as a program officer for the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, where she managed the discussion group on Russia and the Eastern Partnership as well as the joint project “A New Western Ostpolitik” with Johns Hopkins University. From 2013 to 2015, she worked in the project team of the Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Kolleg.

Pagung is currently working on a doctorate on the impact of Russian propaganda and information policy on Germany at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she studied political science. She is also an adjunct lecturer there and serves as a seminar facilitator for various formats relating to European foreign policy and Eastern Europe. From 2012 to 2013, she worked in youth and adult education in Saint Petersburg on behalf of the European Voluntary Service’s German-Russian exchange program.

Janis Kluge

Janis Kluge is a Senior Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, Germany. He holds a PhD in economics from Witten/Herdecke University. His research focuses on Russia’s economic development, domestic policy and sanctions.