60 Years of German-Russian Relations | People & Politics

German-Russian ties have been a story of difficulties. The first phase was marked of course by the Second World war,which saw more casualties in Russia than anywhere else. Then it was the Cold War that left its mark on bilateral ties. The two countries approached each other only slowly until the Wall fell.The Soviet Socialist Republic became a democracy,at least in its own way. We spoke with the people who were the architects of today's ties: former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Valentin Falin,who as Russian ambassador in Bonn and then as government adviser left his mark on the German-Russian relationship.