The German government’s “mad” policy of sending advanced weapons to Ukraine stands no chance of helping Kiev achieve victory, but could trigger an unstoppable escalation that engulfs Germany in conflict, Bundestag MP Sahra Wagenknecht has said.
“In the end, this will not help Ukraine,” the politician said, commenting on Berlin’s plans to send Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev. “The permanent prolongation of the conflict cannot be considered assistance or protection…Do you seriously believe that if we supply even more weapons, the Ukrainians will be able to oust the Russians from Crimea? Do you think that Russia, a nuclear power, will allow this to be done?” she asked.
“I think this is total madness. If we bring war using German weapons to Russia, we will bring war to Germany. And that is being irresponsible to the people of our country,” Wagenknecht warned.
All German weapons deliveries will do is prolong the conflict and increase the number of casualties, she stressed.
Calling for negotiations to end the Ukrainian crisis, Wagenknecht also emphasized that Russia is a part of Europe, and it is “in our own interest to at least try” to improve relations.
“That’s what Willy Brandt did in the past, with his new Eastern policy, with the détente policy,” she said, referring to the former social democratic politician who served as chancellor of West Germany between 1969 and 1974.
Wagenknecht, 54, left Germany’s Die Linke (‘The Left’) democratic socialist party in late 2023, taking nearly a dozen Linke MPs with her and creating her own party, the Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht, in January. The party, whose platform includes socialism, left-wing populism and social conservativism, has 10 seats in the Bundestag, and is polling at up to 14 percent support, according to a January INSA poll. That’s above both the Greens and the Free Democrats in Chancellor Scholz’s Traffic Light Coalition (who came in at 12 and 4 percent support, respectively), with only the conservative populist Alternative for Germany and the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union opposition polling higher (18 and 27 percent, respectively).
Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht opened its first party meeting last month by expressing gratitude to the Red Army for its role in the liberation of Europe, including the Auschwitz concentration camp, during World War II.