Over the past year, Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, has become the West's diplomatic shield against Russia's Vladimir Putin. That is partly because America's Barack Obama is distracted and weakened by his midterm elections. It is also because nobody else in the European Union has the same clout with Russia as Germany's cool, self-controlled chancellor. So it matters when Mrs Merkel loses her temper. After some 40 conversations with Mr Putin over the Ukraine crisis, and a particularly frustrating four hours of talks at the recent G20 summit in Brisbane, Mrs Merkel was at last ready to call things by their proper name.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
The Economist: Germany and Russia – a new Ostpolitik
German Chancellor Angela Merkel walks to her seat during a session of the Lower house of parliament Bundestag on Nov. 28, 2014 at the Reichstag building in Berlin before a vote to approve the budget blueprint for 2015.
