The Christian Science Monitor

Conciliatory no more: Germany’s new toughness on Russia

Russia needs Europe, and Europe needs Russia. 

That mantra has long encapsulated a historically complex relationship between neighbors that offered mutual benefits, particularly in energy trading, and held out the prospect of deeper economic and political ties.

No more. After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine, then put his nuclear forces on alert, the calculus in Europe changed irreparably. And Germany, among the most reluctant to break with Russia, has ditched the mantra. What began with a token donation of 5,000 helmets to Ukraine had by Sunday transformed into a full-throated declaration that Germany must rearm, firmly sanction Putin’s government, pivot from Russian energy imports, and prepare to act within

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