Retrospective of Relations between the Russian Federation and the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

The article analyzes the development of trade and economic relations between Russia and Germany. The work gives a brief historical background but special attention is paid to the modern period of cooperation between Russia and Germany since the 1990s, which is characterized by an active pace of development. Four key stages in the development of relations are distinguished: “Search for forms of interaction” in 1991–2000; “Convergence through interweaving” in 2000–2008; “Partnership for Modernization” in 2008–2014; “Containment and Dialogue” since 2014. Each stage reflects the political and economic features of building partnerships between Russia and Germany in many areas: investment, engineering, innovative technologies, energy, chemical industry, agriculture and other industries, as well as key circumstances that influenced their development, and a number of reasons and factors that reveal their essence. Due to the implementation of sanctions since 2014, as well as the global decrease trend in the economy defined by COVID-19 pandemic, the strengthening of sanctions pressure since February 2022, trade and economic relations between Russia and Germany have undergone negative changes and entered a new stage of development. Recent destructive trends do not exclude the fact of interdependence and complementarity of economies, which determines the particular relevance of studying the retrospective and current state of trade and economic cooperation between two countries. However, the further development of relations between the states is in question and the perspectives for building a dialogue depend on the personal factor in interstate relations, which is proven by historical experience.