Trump was said to have been far too conciliatory towards Putin.
I'm assuming plenty of German citizens have to feel the same way about Steinmeier and Merkel, yeah?
Steinmeier in particular seems to be about a foot away from wanting Germany to be a Russian client state, or at very least be neutered enough to never so much as speak ill of what Putin does in Eastern Europe.
They had an election about a month ago, but they're a multi-party state that builds coalition governments, and it's not something I'm all that knowledgable on. I don't know what the newly elected peeps are likely to choose for leadership or any of the finer points about how it all works.
Their legislature just met for the first time since the election, and now they gotta figure out how they'll govern.