German Chancellor Olaf Scholz surprised many Germans after seeming to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their tense press conference in Moscow yesterday.

German commentators on Wednesday described the new leader as generally talkative but surprisingly combative in his approach to Putin, after weeks in which he was criticized for showing a lack of leadership in the face of the security and crisis crisis. to have been too soft on Moscow. .

Seeming to enjoy the subtle jabs exchanged between the two of them, at one point Scholz even raised eyebrows at the Russian leader when he delved into how Putin is able to choose how long he stays in power.

Mocking Putin’s fear of NATO’s eastward expansion, Scholz said it was unlikely to happen during either of them.

“There is the somewhat particular situation that it is not even on the agenda. Everyone knows that very well,” Scholz said.

“It is not a problem that we are likely to encounter again in our offices as long as we keep them. I don’t know how long the president plans to stay in office,” he said, pointing to Putin. “I have a feeling it might take a while, but not forever.”

Putin reacted by raising his eyebrows and smiling.

The left-wing daily TAZ commented that while no one expected Scholz and Putin to “say farewell”, “Putin did not expel his guest from the Kremlin and remains ready to continue the dialogue. In this regard, the Chancellor’s visit went smoothly. Scholz reacted to all his host’s teasing and petty malice with the necessary countenance and also made it clear that an invasion of Ukraine would have far-reaching consequences”.

He added that Scholz had even managed to utter the word “Nord Stream” – having avoided doing so until now, much to the chagrin of his Western allies.

The Düsseldorf-based Rheinische Post said Scholz’s visit had been a “good performance”, in which he “did not avoid any contentious subject, choosing clear words on the condemnation of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the banning of the human rights organization Memorial”.

But Spiegel said no one – not even Scholz’s biggest fans – expected him to make a major move in the crisis. He also noted that the circumstances surrounding their meeting – the discussion at either end of a six-meter-long table and the Kremlin’s insistence that each of the 50 members of the German delegation perform three PCR tests in the four days preceding the visit, followed by a visit by the Russian authorities on arrival – “showed how fragile the situation is”.

Historian and journalist Katja Hoyer tweeted that the trip to Moscow “showed a more assertive Scholz”, while Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said Scholz was to be congratulated and could “return home without being humiliated by Putin”.

Some commentators have drawn parallels between Scholz and his predecessor, Angela Merkel. She often appeared – particularly at the start of her chancellorship – invisible at home, but was able to gain considerable national support after rising to the challenge on the international stage.

Much has been said in Germany that Scholz put his foot down and refused to allow Russian doctors to administer his PCR test upon his arrival in Moscow. Instead, a doctor from the German Embassy was sent to his plane after landing to perform it and Scholz remained on board for 40 minutes while he waited for the result from the mobile test laboratory which had been brought on the plane arrives.