German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Russia has attracted acute interest of the Russian public, as she is the first woman to become the country's leader. Also, she is one of the few top-level German politicians whose life was connected to Eastern Germany, of which millions of Russians had first-hand knowledge. Finally, Russian-German relations, which have always had a determining influence on Europe, have in recent years played a stabilizing role for the situation on the continent and in the world. Given these factors, the first official meeting of the two countries' leaders has been of principal importance for further development of bilateral cooperation.

No sensational developments were expected from the visit. The chancellor had already confirmed the intention of her coalition government to continue Gerhard Schroeder's policy of strategic partnership with Russia. His retirement provided a powerful impetus for traditionally strong Russophobe forces in Germany, as he was considered the main advocate of Russian-German cooperation. These forces have always preached that Germany could prosper only when in confrontation with Russia. Ahead of her visit, Chancellor Merkel received plenty of recommendations on how to quickly damage relations with Moscow. But the first female chancellor has earned her reputation of a pragmatist and a sensible politician who knows what is good for her country. The meetings in Moscow showed that Merkel was not going to follow anyone's tune.

Speculations that the shortness of the visit (a few hours in Moscow versus three days in Washington) reflects her disdain for Russia have not succeeded either. Lately, state leaders' foreign trips have generally become much shorter due to the growing pace of international politics. For example, President Vladimir Putin's recent visits to Germany to meet Schroeder were also remarkably short, which, however, did not imply a cooling-off in Russian-German relations.

Moreover, in April 2006, key ministers of the two countries' governments will attend a meeting in Tomsk. There is no similar event on the German-American agenda. But will anyone use this fact to maintain that Germany's relations with the United States are deteriorating?

Some people in Germany hoped that Merkel's intention to touch upon problems that are sensitive for Russia in her conversation with Putin would generate tension between the two leaders. But these hopes did not materialize. For the last six years, Russia's policies have been rational, logical, and transparent, so it is not afraid of discussions, even public ones, of its well-considered and grounded decisions. Mentioning the gas dispute with Ukraine gave the Russian president an opportunity to explain once again the reasons for the conflict and its escalation. After all, it is not Russia's fault that Western and German mass media covered the crisis in an extremely biased and prejudiced manner. Allegations of Russia's unreliability as a gas supplier were especially outrageous because the West received less gas after Ukraine had illegally siphoned it off from the transit pipeline. So we should be only grateful to Merkel for allowing Russia to clarify the matter for the public once again.

Overall, the results of the meeting are definitely positive. The chancellor described the present state and future outlook of Russian-German economic cooperation as "breathtaking." But it is not only economic contacts that are exciting: the two leaders confirmed that they have similar or close positions on the majority of current international political problems. They showed that Russian-German relations remained very good after the new government had come to power. Russia is still interested in a stable and prosperous Germany as much as Germany is interested in a stable and prosperous Russia. Only then will it be possible to ensure the stability and prosperity of entire Europe.

Today Russian-German relations are so strong that it is hard to think of how they can be improved further. Nevertheless, there are evident prospects for development. Top-level meetings for this year have been scheduled: they will take place in Tomsk, Berlin and Dresden. Personal friendly contacts between Chancellor Merkel and President Putin have been established. Clearly, the chancellor's visit has demonstrated that it is possible to achieve the maximum result in a short time.

Dr. Igor Maksimychev is a senior fellow of the Institute of European Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.