On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Siberian town of Tomsk  for what she has described as "open and intensive" discussions -- a diplomatic way of saying that the warm and fuzzy relationship the two countries enjoyed under ex-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder have become slightly cooler and more prickly. Moscow has departed from the policies of Germany and other EU nations by speaking out in defense of Hamas -- which it has recognized as the legitimate Palestinian government at a moment when the USA and the EU are deeply concerned over its anti-Israel policies -- and by avoiding a firm stance on Iran's nuclear development program.

Most importantly for Germany, however, concern is growing over recent developments in natural gas trade, with Russian energy giant Gazprom stating that it wants to diversify its markets by trading with China and Canada. Gazprom has also mentioned it would like natural gas prices to rise for Germany and other EU nations, who are strongly dependent on Russian energy resources.

But where, exactly are German-Russian relations heading? On Friday, German commentators are split.

"It's about the economy," an editorial in the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung notes bluntly, citing the host of businessmen that made up Merkel's entourage on her visit to Tomsk. The paper argues that "Russia offers German entrepreneurs something that's getting increasingly difficult to find back home: the potential for spectacular economic growth." The problem is that Russia isn't "a weak state that submits happily to exploitation." Rather, the commentator writes, "Russia has become aware of the new power that derives from its vast energy resources in an age of international scarcity." But political implications, the paper writes, cannot be ignored. The commentator cites Moscow's support of Iran and the Russian Federation's sometimes less than democratic domestic policies as two issues that should not be neglected during diplomatic meetings such as this one. The piece closes with an ominous warning: Russia is pursuing an agenda "whose topmost item is winning back its sorely missed superpower status."

An editorial in Germany's other major conservative daily, Die Welt, likewise begins by stressing the economic interests involved in Merkel's visit to Tomsk: "German entrepreneurs were enthusiastic about the revenue from their trade with Russia," the commentator writes. But rather than celebrating the entrepreneurial success stories that may have come with the diplomatic meeting, the commentator goes on to stress the way Merkel was careful to put a damper on over-enthusiasm. The commentator approvingly characterizes Merkel's approach to Moscow as "pragmatic" and "dignified" and suggests that such an approach is more appropriate than the chumminess of Merkel's predecessor Schröder -- especially given the divergence in values between the two countries. Given this state of affairs, the commentator concludes, it is only appropriate that Merkel avoided the expression conventionally used by the German government to describe its relationship to the Russian Federation -- "strategic partnership." Instead, Merkel chose to speak more carefully of a "strategic cooperation."

The expression "strategic partnership" is the object of a lengthy analysis in an editorial published in today's edition of the center-left Berliner Zeitung. Still used by Merkel fairly recently, the expression was already a departure both from what the commentator describes as the "hysterical heartiness" of the relationship between Helmut Kohl and Boris Yelzin and from the "German-Russian friendship" cultivated by Gerhard Schröder and Vladimir Putin. Speaking of a "strategic partnership" involves recognizing a fundamental "contradiction" between the policies of Moscow and the EU, the commentator argues, going on to point out that while the EU emphasized the importance of the Russian Federation developing a "stable, open and pluralist democracy" in a 1999 strategy paper ratified by Berlin, a document released by Moscow the same year had less to say about democracy than about what it identified as Russia's ongoing status as a "superpower." "As far as energy policy is concerned," the commentator notes, "the authority Russia strives for has already become a reality." If this is the situation -- as suggested by recent tensions over Gazprom's market strategy, then the expression "strategic partnership" is constantly at risk of becoming "hollow."

-- Max Henninger, 11:20 am CET

"Hamas Wants to Destroy Israel."

Also on Friday, Germany's popular tabloid Bild Zeitung -- which has often been a forum for statements from leading German politicians, and which was former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's preferred newspaper -- presents an extended interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The interview is placed prominently on the second page of Bild -- the first page is reserved for bare-breasted Amélie, who is "dreaming of love" -- and accompanied by a quotation in which Olmert waxes eloquent about his admiration for Axel Springer, the notoriously right-wing media magnate who owns Bild.

While he was officially made Prime Minister on April 14, Olmert has been exercising the powers of the office ever since his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a severe stroke in January. Like Sharon, Olmert is a member of the Kadima Party, which won Israel's legislative elections on March 28 of this year, and he has devoted himself to continuing Sharon's political program: disengagement from the occupied territories and suspension of peace negotiations until the Palestinian Authority forsakes terrorism and unambiguously acknowledges the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

The interview opens on a personal note, with Olmert describing his last encounter with Sharon in hospital. Olmert speaks reverently of his predecessor -- "my boss and my leader," he calls him -- and of the "important decisions" now to be undertaken, decisions that he says will amount to "a political revolution for Israel."

Asked about the electoral victory of Hamas that followed shortly after Sharon's stroke, Olmert tries to give the event a positive spin. He notes that the new Hamas government is "not just a threat, but also an opportunity," in so far as it can help Israel "show the world what the situation here is." As for this month's suicide attack, which killed nine people in Tel Aviv and was not condemned by Hamas, but rather defended as an "act of self-defense," Olmert justifies his decision not to retaliate. "I will decide when, where and how we react," he says, adding immediately that "I am firmly resolved to continue the fight against terror. This war will continue day by day."

Regarding Israel's unilateral policy of disengagement from the occupied territories, Olmert emphasizes that his first option would have been a proper peace settlement. "I would have preferred an agreement or a peace treaty with the Palestinians. That would require negotiations." But with Hamas refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the state of Israel, "there's no point in even considering negotiations," Olmert says, going on to succinctly summarize his current policy as "the greatest possible separation from the Palestinians on the one hand and maximum security for the borders and the citizens of the state of Israel on the other hand."

Olmert speaks sympathetically about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whom he calls "an honorable man who wants to prevent violence against Israelis and is strictly against terror." Despite his qualities, Abbas is constrained to "share his power with terrorists," Olmert says. "The positive development that was the replacement of Arafat by Abbas" coincides with "the negative development that is Hamas obtaining full control of the Palestinian government." The party that won the last Palestinian elections is "a terrorist organization that rejects peace with Israel," Olmert insists. He goes on to emphasize the role that German Chancellor Angela Merkel promises to play in building a strong international front against Hamas.