> Now, even with internal pressures of protesting people in germany, there is no incentive for germans to sit down with the russians
Yes, and that's exactly what Russia wants to signal now: "we're ready to go all in and use strategic nukes against NATO countries, we don't have anything to go back to".
Why would russia want that? Russia wants to remove nato from ukraine, take the prorussian regions, and then continue business as usual... ie. selling gas to EU.
Russia would be happiest to remove NATO from the equation entirely. Steamrolling Ukraine, sowing dissent within the alliance, and then grabbing one or more of the Baltic states would have done that.
Yes, and that's exactly what Russia wants to signal now: "we're ready to go all in and use strategic nukes against NATO countries, we don't have anything to go back to".