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German politician says Putin no longer cares about his reputation
🇪🇪 Estonia /Conflict & Security

German politician says Putin no longer cares about his reputation

From Postimees · () Estonian

Translated from Estonian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Wolfgang Schmidt, a former head of the German Chancellor’s Office, said Vladimir Putin no longer cares about his reputation.
  • Schmidt predicted a rapid Russian response to Germany’s reaction to the hybrid attack in Leipzig.
  • He recalled that Germany had closed four of its five Russian consulates while his political camp was in power, with reciprocal closures by Russia.

Vladimir Putin no longer appears concerned about his reputation, according to Wolfgang Schmidt, a former head of the German Chancellor’s Office who spoke to Bild.

“Putin will not be stopped by Germany’s reaction to the hybrid attack in Leipzig,” Schmidt said. He expected a Russian response to follow very quickly.

Putin will not be stopped by Germany’s reaction to the hybrid attack in Leipzig. I expect the Russian response to follow very quickly.

— Wolfgang SchmidtThe former German Chancellor’s Office chief assessed the likely Russian reaction to Germany’s response.

Schmidt also referred to earlier diplomatic closures. During his camp’s time in power, Germany closed four of Russia’s five consulates, in Hamburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt and Munich. Russia responded by closing German consulates in the country. The only one still open, he said, is the German consulate in St. Petersburg.

While we were in power, we closed four of Russia’s five consulates, namely those in Hamburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt and Munich. In response, the German consulates in Russia were also closed accordingly. The only one still open is the consulate in St. Petersburg.

— Wolfgang SchmidtHe described earlier reciprocal consulate closures between Germany and Russia.
About this summary

Originally published by Postimees in Estonian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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