[Skybird]

Merkel is the only Western heavyweight Putin really still speaks with, Hollande is just an alibi for the rest of Europe. German-Russian relations had been very close before this all came upon us/them.

However, there is a risk involved. If Merkel cannot acchieve anything substantial, then this is a signal that indeed all is lost. There will come nobody after her, she is the biggest calliber on offer to meet with Putin.

And as I said, things aren't anymore like they used to be. I am not certain that Putin still is interested in at least Germany/Merkel. He better would. Germany depends to some degree on Russian gas, yes, one third of its oil and one third of its gas is coming from Russia. But Russia needs German economic cooperation and stimuli even more desperately. This whole mess costs German economy an awful lot, the lost investments right now are stellar. But it costs Russia even more in the long run.

P.S.
At the security conference in Munich today, Merkel said this: "Das Problem ist, dass ich mir keine Situation vorstellen kann, in der eine verbesserte Ausrüstung der ukrainischen Armee dazu führt, dass Präsident Putin so beeindruckt ist, dass er glaubt, militärisch zu verlieren. Ich muss das so hart sagen. (...) Militärisch ist das nicht zu gewinnen, das ist die bittere Wahrheit."

Translation:
"The problem is that I cannot imagine any situation where a better military equipment for the Ukrainian army would lead to president Putin being so much impressed that he would believe that he could militarily lose this. (...) By military means, this case cannot be won, that is the bitter truth."