Hard-Right party ignores German chancellor’s advice to shun Moscow during Ukraine war
James Rothwell is The Telegraph’s Berlin correspondent
He joined in 2014 and has since worked as a Foreign News Reporter, a Brexit Correspondent, and a Middle East Correspondent in Jerusalem. He has reported from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Published 04 June 2026
One of Vladimir Putin’s top advisers hosted Germany’s hard-right Alternative for Germany(AfD) party in Russia amid a push to reopen the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Markus Frohnmaier, the foreign policy chief of the AfD, met Kirill Dmitriev and the head of Russian gas firm Gazprom on Wednesday during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in St Petersburg.
The meeting underlines a deepening partnership between Germany’s second-largest party and the Russian government.
The move is deeply embarrassing for Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, as the AfD not only ignored his advice to avoid Russia during the Ukraine war but has also overtaken his Christian Democrats (CDU) in the polls.
Mr Frohnmaier said his meeting with Mr Dmitriev and Gazprom’s Alexei Miller, who are both under Western sanctions, was aimed at restoring Russian-German trade relations.
“Germany is caught in a severe economic downward spiral, and a key driver of this is the high cost of energy,” Mr Frohnmaier said, alluding in part to soaring energy prices that followed Germany’s decision to halt cheap Russian gas imports after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“That is why all options must be put back on the table, including the recommissioning of Nord Stream and the resumption of trade relations with Russia,” he added.
Mr Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy for economic cooperation, posted on X: “Looking forward to building a great FUTURE together with AfD, Germany’s most popular party.”
The latest figures show that the AfD would win the next federal election, in 2029, taking 28 per cent of the vote – before the CDU’s share of 22 per cent.
Although all other German political parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD, as part of its firewall strategy, the party may succeed for the first time in forming state governments in the east in elections this September.
The AfD’s visit will have delighted the Kremlin, which views the party as a government-in-waiting that would be strongly pro-Russian should its leader, Alice Weidel, take power.
For decades Russia provided Germany with a third of its crude oil imports and more than half of its natural gas resources.
Berlin has struggled with energy prices since the undersea Nord Stream pipeline was blown up in September 2022.
Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack, though Kyiv denies this. Last year, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal accused a team of elite Ukrainian divers of sabotaging the pipeline, against the wishes of Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
Soaring energy prices have proven to be a major factor in the rise of the AfD, which counts Elon Musk and JD Vance, the US vice-president, among its supporters.
AfD is Ukraine’s worst nightmare.
With OrbanaZi out of the way, step forward Weidel!
Krasnov and VanZkov’s favourite Nazi party; the AfD, can do more damage to Ukraine than OrbanaZi could even dream of.