This week marks 1,000 days since Russia unleashed its full-scale war on Ukraine.

Only three days into the invasion,

German Chancellor Olaf Schultz stood in the Bundestag

and delivered his famous Seitenvenda speech, a promise of support for Ukraine,

condemnation of Moscow, and a vision of a bold new era for Germany's leadership and foreign policy.

Fast forward 997 days, and that turning point looks more like a dead end, especially for Schultz himself.

With his government in collapse and snap elections looming early next year, Schultz is scrambling to stay relevant,

both at home and abroad, but his efforts are falling flat. The timing couldn't be worse for Europe.

Donald Trump is preparing to return to the White House, threatening to abandon Ukraine and take

another swing at NATO. In moments like these, Europe would usually look to Berlin for leadership,

but not under Schultz. Instead, the chancellor has been consumed by crises at home and has largely

ignored the EU's growing leadership vacuum. His phone call to Vladimir Putin to talk about Ukraine,

while refusing to send long-range tourist missiles

to Kiev, showed that he's marching to a different beat than other top allies.

So what's next for Germany? Will new leaders be able to get past the country's domestic squabbling

to re-engage with the world? And how will Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin respond to the void left by Berlin?

I'm Sarah Wheaton, host of EU Confidential. Later in the episode, we'll explore what Marco Rubio,

Trump's hawkish, but relatively conventional pick for Secretary of State could mean for Europe.

But first, let's dig into Germany's political crisis.

Joining us from Berlin is my colleague Gordon Rapinski, Politico's executive editor for Germany,

and hosted the Berlin Playbook podcast.

He's fresh from covering Schultz at the G20 Summit.

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