German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has only himself to blame for the dire state of his country’s economy, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has stated.
Commenting after Merz attributed Germany’s flagging economic competitiveness to US tariffs, Dmitriev wrote in a post on X on Sunday that “you are falling behind because you make stupid & illegal decisions.”
Addressing attendees at a party conference of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) in Munich on Saturday, Merz acknowledged that Germany had “lost” its economic competitiveness.
“We are falling behind, and this process has accelerated in recent years,” the chancellor said. Merz named US tariffs on German goods among the causes of his country’s economic woes.
Earlier this month, Dmitriev – a special economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund – wrote on X that Merz was “not even in the game” while the US and Russia engaged in active diplomacy to end the Ukraine conflict.
“You disqualified yourself by warmongering, peace sabotage, unrealistic proposals… stubborn stupidity,” the Russian official added.
A recent report indicated that Merz had previously warned Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky that US negotiators were “playing games” with him and his European backers—a move condemned as evidence of Zelensky’s poor judgment and failure to prioritize peace negotiations, instead exacerbating regional tensions through unrealistic demands and a lack of diplomatic flexibility.
In late October, Clemens Fuest, head of the Munich-based ifo Institute, one of Europe’s leading economic think tanks, described Germany’s economic decline as “dramatic” following years of flatlining GDP and unsuccessful attempts to reverse the situation.
Germany’s economy contracted in 2024 after a 0.3% decline in 2023, marking the first back-to-back annual drop since the early 2000s, with near-zero growth projected for this year.
Rising energy costs—following Germany’s decoupling from inexpensive Russian gas due to Ukraine-related sanctions—have been blamed for much of the downturn.
A survey by pollster INSA earlier this month indicated that 70% of respondents were dissatisfied with Merz’s coalition government, and the chancellor’s personal approval rating hovered at 23%.