Putin now lives on 'hopes' ...

Angela Merkel has finally managed to create a coalition government with Martin Schulz, leader of the SPD party.

But in the process she has had to relinquish CDU control of the Finance and Foreign Affairs Ministries to the SDP.

As reported by Will Kirby,

"Martin Schulz, (left) the embattled leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), will take over as foreign minister in a move likely to infuriate the German voters who opted for more eurosceptic parties in last year’s election." (Express : Wed, Feb 7, 2018) (my emphasis)

 This is the same Martin Schulz who,

• Speaking in December [2017], Mr Schulz called on EU member states to sign up to a “United States of Europe” by 2025 or risk being kicked out of the bloc. (ibid Will Kirby) (my emphasis)

•  ... stated as recently as 5 months ago (September 2017), “The way I see the situation, Russians have turned it [Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea] into an accomplished fact and they will insist on it,” he said. Schulz added that Crimea’s reunification with Russia was a “serious violation of international law” although Russian president Putin has insisted that the referendum that was held to join Russia, had been strictly in accordance with international law." (Free West Media : September 2, 2017) (my emphasis)

• ... and in 2016, stated that, "Sanctions will be maintained and they will continue to be applied until Minsk agreements are completely fulfilled," - said Schulz in his doorstep statement before the start of the EU summit, adding that the Minsk deal must be implemented by all parties to the conflict." (UNIAN : 20 October 2016) (my emphasis)

But hardly had Schulz time to warm the seat as Germany's new Foreign Minister when he had to relinquish this dream of his following being attacked by his predecessor as [SDP] party leader, Sigmar Gabriel (right), who is also the outgoing foreign minister.

As reported by  Ivo Oliveira,

"But when the new coalition deal was announced on Wednesday, it swiftly became clear that Schulz intended to become foreign minister. On Friday, Schulz bowed to the backlash against his plan.

“I hereby forgo joining the federal government,” he said. “At the same time, I sincerely hope that this will end the personnel debates within the SPD.” (Politico : 9 February, 2018) (my emphasis)

 Let us not forget, however, that this same Sigmar Gabriel who denounced Martin Schulz, is also in full support of  Putin's controversial plan to build Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany, and which could lead to German companies coming under the threat of being sanctioned by the US.

As reported by Matthew Karnitschnig,

“Now is a good time for us to intensify our economic cooperation,” Gabriel said during a visit to St. Petersburg in late November [2017]. “We’ve always known Russia as an especially reliable gas supplier.” (Politico : 13/12/17) (my emphasis)


Putin cannot, however, rest assured that Trump will not impose sanctions against those German companies helping him to complete his Nord Stream 2 project since Trump is having a "bad hair day" with the Mueller investigation into the collusion between himself and Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections.

Just as Nixon tried to get rid of Archibald Cox, a special prosecutor appointed by the attorney general to investigate the Watergate burglary, and that ultimately led to Nixon resigning from the US presidency, Trump is now also attempting to set the scene for him being able to fire Robert Mueller from investigating the collusion between Putin and himself during the 2016 US presidential election.

Trump's desperation to protect his presidency, like Nixon before him, is however leading him closer to the scaffold of impeachment.

Putin can only hope that whoever becomes the next Foreign Minister of Germany will be sympathetic towards BOTH the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline AND his 'fait accompli' annexation of Ukrainian Crimea.

He also hopes that Trump manages to rid himself of Mueller and the 'Russia Investigation' into his collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 US presidential elections without Trump, in the process, being impeached.

(to be continued)