Germany’s declining economic competitiveness was partly linked to its decision to stop buying cheap Russian gas and turn to more expensive supplies from other countries, particularly the US, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.
Speaking at the briefing on Monday, Peskov said Russia noted low approval ratings for Germany’s current government and figures showing a decline in the competitiveness of its economy.
“We also observe that the decline in the competitiveness of the German economy is largely due to the fact that Germany has stopped purchasing cheap Russian gas and has begun buying very expensive gas – sometimes several times more costly – on the spot market from other countries, primarily the United States,” he said.
“Naturally, Germans – or at least some of them – are seeking an alternative to the current leadership in order to improve their situation, Peskov added.
His comment came after Germany's anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a second state election Sunday in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, only two weeks after its record victory in Saxony-Anhalt. Votes for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU fell below 5 percent, with the party failing to enter a German state parliament for the first time.
The German economy, largest in Europe and the third-biggest worldwide, is facing serious headwinds mainly because of a slowdown in industrial production.
The country has long prided itself on its ability to make exportable goods – vehicles, industrial machinery, computing hardware etc – at competitive prices. But the export-led economic model seems to be losing momentum for a variety of reasons.
Rising energy prices, tough competition from Chinese manufacturers, and punitive tariffs by the US have reduced the share of German goods in the global market.
The resulting job cuts in the German industrial sector have flattened domestic demand, prolonging the economic slump.
As a result, the latest annual economic growth rate went down to 0.2 percent, insufficient to sustain income levels for the most populous member state of the European Union.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, the Left Party won the state election with about 25.3 percent of the vote, ahead of CDU's 19 percent.
On France, Peskov rejected recent remarks by Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate of France’s right-wing National Rally, that Russia could no longer influence French politics through threats.
“We disagree with this statement. Russia does not threaten either France or any other European state,” he said, adding that Moscow “does not threaten or blackmail anyone.”
On US President Donald Trump’s latest sanctions package targeting Russia, Peskov said Moscow remained in contact with its trading partners and that they had expressed opposition to potential secondary sanctions.
He said the new measures would not help revive bilateral relations or advance efforts toward a settlement of the war in Ukraine.
Peskov added that Russia had adapted to more than 30,000 sanctions imposed by various countries and had found ways to minimise their negative effects.
