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In normal countries this is called treason. In Germany it's "developing trade relations".
You must not forget that Gerhard Schröder won the 2002 election by promising that Germany won't join the USA in invading the Iraq, a promise that many German citizens venerate him for. For basically everyone in Germany it was obvious that Putin is a criminal, but the mood in German society at that time was that the Iraq invasion of George W. Bush was to be considered a genocide. So, having a choice between continuing being aligned with a nation/president who wants Germans to join a genocide vs seeking alignment with a criminal, Schröder's politics of seeking rapprochement with Russia/Putin was rather well-regarded in the German society.
You must not forget that Gerhard Schröder won the 2002 election by promising that Germany won't join the USA in invading the Iraq, a promise that many German citizens venerate him for. For basically everyone in Germany it was obvious that Putin is a criminal, but the mood in German society at that time was that the Iraq invasion of George W. Bush was to be considered a genocide. So, having a choice between continuing being aligned with a nation/president who wants Germans to join a genocide vs seeking alignment with a criminal, Schröder's politics of seeking rapprochement with Russia/Putin was rather well-regarded in the German society.