German MP Sahra Wagenknecht has argued that the conflict between Moscow and Kiev cannot be resolved with “more weapons.”
Berlin should engage in more active diplomatic efforts if it wants to see an end to the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, German MP Sahra Wagenknecht told Funke Media Group on Friday. She asserted that supplying Ukraine with “more weapons” would not bring peace to Europe.
The veteran politician has repeatedly criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government for its stance on the Ukraine conflict, stating that Berlin’s current policy is only serving to exacerbate the war. “We need more diplomatic efforts,” said Wagenknecht, who was formerly a member of the Left Party’s parliamentary faction but who established her own party – the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – this year.
“There is a good peace plan by Brazil and China. I hope that Germany and the EU will support such initiatives,” Wagenknecht said. In May, those two nations presented a joint six-point proposal calling for de-escalation, negotiations, and an international peace conference recognized by both Russia and Ukraine.
Brasilia and Beijing attempted to advance their initiative at a 17-nation meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. Kiev immediately rejected their plan, calling it “unacceptable.” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky also labelled it “destructive.”
Moscow welcomed China’s and Brazil’s peace proposals and expressed appreciation that they have received international backing. It still expressed its doubts about Kiev’s willingness to engage in any such talks.
Wagenknecht believes that Germany should exert pressure on Zelensky to “force” him to agree to a compromise. She stated that China could leverage its influence with Moscow to make talks possible. “There will be no peace without compromise,” the politician stated.
The lawmaker also warned that current Western policy towards the Ukraine conflict is “insanely dangerous” since it lets NATO get “drawn ever deeper into this war.” She cautioned that if the US-led bloc becomes directly involved in the conflict, it would lead to a direct confrontation with Moscow. “And this conflict will then very quickly escalate into a nuclear war,” she believes.
When pressed by journalists on whether she was just doing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “bidding,” Wagenknecht replied that it was “not about being a friend or enemy to Russia, but about peace in Europe and [ending] the war in Ukraine.”
“Without peace, everything else is nothing,” the politician said, adding that it was high time Germany became “an internationally respected voice that mediates in conflicts and advocates diplomacy.”
Moscow has repeatedly warned that Western military aid to Kiev is drawing NATO ever closer to direct involvement in the ongoing hostilities. This summer, Putin said that Western support for Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory is a significant escalation that could spark an “asymmetric” response. Last month, he also suggested changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that would particularly allow a nuclear response in case of a conventional attack by a non-nuclear state that is backed by a nuclear state.