But you better be polite. The Germans are thinking too much. Again.

Can You Speak To a War Criminal?

Russia has tens of thousands of lives on its conscience in Ukraine, yet calls for diplomatic initiatives are growing louder in the West. In Germany, a growing number in both the governing parties and the opposition would like to see talks with Moscow.

When the German chancellor speaks to Vladimir Putin by phone, the Russian president is always extremely polite. People familiar with the calls say that his voice it rather soft and that the tone is less preachy than in his public appearances. Putin usually speaks a few sentences of German as a greeting before switching to Russian, with an interpreter then jumping in to translate…

“You can’t negotiate with this Putin right now.” Annalena Baerbock, German foreign minister.