> I hold the same position for any other initiatives that the German politicians throw money around for outside of its own borders

Before the Russian invasion in 2022 Germany imported on average US$25 billions worth of goods from Russia each year. Dominated by crude oil and natural gas.

https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/imports/russia

At the time it was seen as good business, because the prices were good and German economy enjoyed the benefit of cheap energy for decades. But Putin was just waiting for the real payment and the real payment is Ukraine.

It would be unfair to blame it only on Germany, because whole Europe was importing a lot of fossil fuels from Russia and financing Russian economy and Russian army, but Germany had the biggest share and biggest hope that the invasion will be quickly over.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/26/russia-ukraine...