Germany's Green Party suddenly changes position on Ukraine conflict?
MPs from the Green Party, which has been actively providing aid to Ukraine, have called for the restoration of diplomatic channels and the start of negotiations with Russia.
According to RIA Novosti on October 13, an article published in the Frankfurter Rundschau magazine (Germany) stated that it is necessary to restore diplomatic channels and start negotiations with Russia. The group of authors of the article includes German Transport Minister Winfried Hermann. Notably, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is also a member of the Green Party.
In its paper, the article argues that Western countries' policies towards Russia have the opposite effect: they strengthen Russia and weaken the West.
“The supply of weapons to Ukraine and sanctions did not lead to success. On the contrary, the economic and political damage to the countries that imposed the restrictions turned out to be greater than that to Russia in military terms. Economically, Russia is not isolated at the global level,” Hermann and his co-authors said.
A Green Party member has called on his government colleagues to take responsibility for changing foreign policy, calling the current approach to the conflict in Ukraine a failure.
“Western governments, especially the German government, must begin to change strategy,” the authors said. “The restrictions on thinking and debate must be broken down.”
In the authors' opinion, when considering the approach to the Ukrainian conflict, it is necessary to “recognize Russia's interests in the security sphere”.
The Greens are one of the most vocal supporters of supplying arms to Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a former co-chair of the party, has repeatedly taken a tough stance on Russia. Earlier, on October 11, Ms. Baerbock said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not ready to talk to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Many German parliamentarians have also called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. German parliamentarian Jacqueline Nassich said: "Stop using American medium-range missiles! We don't want war to spread to Russia, we want peace in Ukraine through diplomacy!".
In recent days, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to cease fire along the front line after receiving guarantees from Western countries. Meanwhile, the US newspaper The Washington Post quoted Western diplomats as noting that the Ukrainian leader had become more open to negotiations with Russia, due to Ukraine's weakened position.
