© Markus Schreiber/Associated PressPhoto Chancellor Angela Merkel has kept German businesses, which have strong interests in Russia, apprised of shifts in her thinking on relations with Moscow.
Perhaps even more remarkable is that Germans, long anxious to preserve commercial, energy and cultural ties with their vast eastern neighbor, have gone along. Seventy percent of 1,003 adults polled last week by Infratest dimap for the public broadcaster ARD approved of stricter sanctions; just 15 percent viewed Russia as a reliable partner in a poll with a three-percentage-point margin of sampling error.
In marked contrast to France's leadership, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government - a united "grand coalition" of center-right and center-left - have kept German businesses apprised of any shift in thinking and made it clear throughout that tougher sanctions would be imposed if Russia fell further out of line.
The political upheaval over Ukraine has already affected Germany's economy, slowing down growth and throwing into question the country's ability to sustain its long record of robust performance even amid anemic recovery elsewhere in the European Union, economists said. The sanctions that would restrict trade between the countries are likely to cause further damage.
Comment: The world conspiracy described here is one that is 'out of this realm', because it is beyond the ken of humans (or psychopaths, especially psychopaths) to control, direct or manage.
Putin's statements can in no way be taken to imply "avid support" for the IMF. What if he makes plain-pudding - "boring", even - statements about restructuring international finance because he knows you can't 'upset the markets' or you'll make too many enemies too fast and torpedo your efforts to bring about a fairer system in which the power of oligarchs everywhere is reined in, at least a bit?
Sorry, world conspiracy theorists, but that is the best that can be hoped for in this world.