Germany's location at the center of Europe has historically led the country to formulate its foreign policy primarily with France and Russia in mind. Today, as the leading economic and political power in the European Union, Germany is working to maintain the cohesion of the bloc and to shape its collective foreign policy decisions. Germany wants to promote stability around EU borders, but it also wants to maintain strong commercial relations with Russia. Throughout the crisis in Ukraine, Germany played a central role in shaping the West's position. Germany rallied EU members to support sanctions against Russia in the hope that economic pressure from some of Russia's top trading partners would lead the Kremlin to change course in Ukraine. Merkel played a major role negotiating the February 2015 Minsk agreement, which led to a largely respected cease-fire and partial withdrawal of arms from the contact line in Donbas.