US-Germany Russia Policy Publicly Splits: Germany Refuses to Follow Trump in Easing Sanctions, Stands by Zelensky

According to Deutsche Welle, German federal government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in a statement on October 10 that the federal government 'has taken note of the US decision regarding Russian diesel exports,' but 'stands by the relevant resolutions on Russia sanctions and is working with European partners to advance further sanctions.' The statement also stressed that Germany's support for Ukraine 'in defending its own security' remains 'unwavering,' and that diplomatic peace efforts are 'continuing to be pursued.'

This position directly conflicts with the line announced by Trump the previous day: the US side temporarily lifted Russia-related sanctions, allowing Russia to 'immediately' supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the United States and global markets, injecting funds into the Kremlin's already strained wartime finances.

A spokesperson for German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said the same day that Germany 'stands fully behind the sanctions framework,' and that 'in this area we have diversified our supplies and are no longer dependent on Russian oil.' Since the EU imposed sanctions on Russian crude and refined oil products in 2023, Germany has stopped importing any petroleum products from Russia. Germany is also Ukraine's largest financial supporter in Europe.

As the CDU convened a two-day leadership meeting, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul made clear on October 11 that Berlin 'fully supports' Zelensky 'in fulfilling his difficult duties'—a direct rejection of Trump's public demand for Zelensky to step down.

Wadephul said: 'We do not need to reduce pressure on Putin to force him to negotiate. We need more. That is what this moment requires, and what this government insists upon.' He also called for support for Ukraine to remain 'consistent and clear.'

According to Deutsche Welle, the direct cause of record US diesel prices is the war the United States and Israel have launched against Iran. But Trump has used social media to blame the surge in fuel prices on Zelensky rather than on the war itself. The report also noted that how much fuel Russia can actually bring to global markets remains unclear—Ukraine has continued to strike Russian refineries, Russia itself is facing fuel shortages, and how much actual cash flow the US 'easing' can deliver to the Kremlin remains unknown.

[The Schröder Controversy]

Reactions in German political circles to former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's trip to Moscow to attend Putin's 74th birthday dinner were equally sharp. Co-leader of the Greens Franziska Brantner told the Tagesspiegel: 'Russia is right now even waging hybrid attacks on us inside Germany, and Schröder has learned nothing. A new approach is needed.' She demanded that the SPD, to which Schröder belongs, restart the procedure to expel him from the party, warning that any outcome less than expulsion 'would be a catastrophic signal—not only for Ukraine, but for the security of our citizens as well.'

Former Labour Minister and SPD member Hubertus Heil also told the Tagesspiegel that he was deeply angered and unsettled by Schröder's 'warm embrace' of Putin in Moscow, saying that spending a birthday with a 'dictator'—whose 'bloody imperialism causes terrible suffering every day'—is 'unforgivable under any circumstances.' The Kremlin said that Putin learned from Russian media reports that Schröder was on a business trip in Moscow, and thereupon invited his 'old friend' to his home.

[Domestic Political Background]

At home, Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder publicly stated on the evening of October 11 his support for Friedrich Merz to continue serving as chancellor, putting to rest outside speculation about a change at the top of the federal government. 'Friedrich Merz is the chancellor, and will continue to be the chancellor,' Söder said. He added that a change in chancellor would only occur under 'extreme' circumstances.

Merz's CDU is going through an electoral crisis: in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament election, the CDU failed to clear the 5 percent threshold, becoming for the first time shut out of the state legislature in that state—something Merz himself called 'a disaster'; in the earlier Saxony-Anhalt election, the CDU lost nearly 20 percentage points, decisively overtaken by the far-right AfD, which won more than 40 percent of the vote. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing warned Bild that the rise of far-right and far-left forces is frightening away foreign investors, and that 'in the eyes of investors, this is Germany as a whole,' regardless of whether the elections take place at the state or local level.

[Analysis]

The core of the US-Germany divide has moved beyond the technical level of sanctions and touches the strategic objective toward Russia itself. The fact that Germany uses the words 'consistent' and 'clear' in its official statements to describe its stance on Ukraine precisely suggests that it believes what it sees the United States wavering on is exactly this consistency. When Trump shifts blame for an energy crisis triggered by a US-Israeli war against Iran onto Kyiv, and pumps money into Moscow by easing sanctions, Europe faces not just diplomatic friction, but a situation in which the very logic of US foreign-policy decision-making is becoming an uncertain variable.