Indeed. There are plenty of reasons for Merkel to have taken a hard line against Russia; dismissing it as "sockpuppetry" is a petty sophistry seemingly designed to conceal that there are solid, pragmatic reasons for Germany to take such a position, just as there have been for the Baltic states and Poland to be some of the loudest voices in favor of a firm position against Russia. In fact, it's downright disingenuous, considering that it completely ignores that up until March of last year, Merkel was the strongest voice in favor of Russian rapprochement and the voice of caution in imposing any sanctions. The second Putin revealed that he had been systematically lying to her for months about the Crimea situation (specifically, that he would respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and that he would not intervene militarily), she decided that he could not be trusted and shifted her political position accordingly. And this is my grasp from reading English sources; I don't know what they're saying in Russia, but sockpuppetry or kowtowing to the Washington line is not what I've seen in anything but the most anti-American (because it only makes sense as an insult if taken from a position that denounces political positions due to being perceived as American) or pro-Russian (because it absolves Russia of any blame in the matter) positions - and those two positions don't necessarily overlap.
As for why the EU would theoretically want to stop the sanctions, perhaps fear of economic losses due to the general Russian counter-sanctions on agricultural goods. France is taking a significant loss on the Mistrals, so it has an economic reason to resume military shipments to Russia. There's also always the fear that Russia can turn off the gas taps, as well, though that hasn't happened yet and is unlikely to happen unless there's a very serious escalation all around.