The Russian attack on Ukraine ended the era of benevolent Ostpolitik. Germany can no longer afford to play its own game against the aggressor. No other great country in the Western world trusted Vladimir Putin as much as Germany. Even more awkward for the Germans was the awakening from the night of Thursday, when the Russian army attacked Ukraine. With the beginning of the military operation, one great illusion collapsed, which determined the foreign policy of the German governments and which has long been believed by a large part of the population of the federal republic.
However, with the escalating Russian-Ukrainian crisis, confidence in Russia gradually crumbled and crumbled to dust after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Many people were shocked by Putin’s attack. In recent days, even the politicians themselves have expressed feelings of disappointment as well as frustration at their own naivety and failure in an unusually open and sometimes even raw way.