The signs for diplomacy in Ukraine are bad at the moment. The SPD parliamentary group leader calls for it anyway, because the Germans supposedly want it that way. The Greens shake their heads. Mützenich represents concepts from the 1980s and has learned nothing from old mistakes.
With his recent statements on diplomatic initiatives to end the Ukraine war, SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich has angered the Greens. The Green Party chairman, Omid Nouripour, accused Mützenich of relying on "recipes from the 70s and 80s". Anyone calling for negotiations in the current situation is ultimately helping the Russian side, he said. After the recent Ukrainian recaptures, the Kremlin has an interest in "freezing the status quo". It is important to learn from the mistakes of the past, emphasized the co-party leader. In this context, he also referred to statements by SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, who had admitted to several misjudgments by his party about Russia in the past few decades.
In an interview, Mützenich had said: "There will certainly not be a ceasefire overnight. Sometimes it only develops in individual regions at first. But we must not ignore any chance of a local ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners of war and the supply makes possible for the civilian population." In response to his repeated call for more diplomacy, Mützenich said: "I am fully committed to supporting Ukraine against the Russian aggressor. However, I also take note of surveys according to which 60 percent of Germans want more diplomatic initiatives. We should think about that give."
At a party event last Tuesday, Klingbeil said of the Social Democrats' Russia policy: "In our search for common ground, we often overlooked what separated us. That was a mistake." After the end of the Cold War, the SPD believed that relations with Russia would simply keep getting better. "This has created blind spots in our dealings with Russia. And that has led to mistakes in dealing with Russia."
The FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann criticized Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer for his call for a resumption of Russian gas supplies to Germany after the end of the war. "I can only say that Mr. Kretschmer really took a completely wrong turn," said Strack-Zimmermann in the podcast "Wach
The Chair of the Defense Committee reiterated her call for heavy weapons supplies to Ukraine. "It's unfortunate that the Chancellery is still blocking infantry fighting vehicles," said Strack-Zimmermann. In her view, the argument that soldiers are not trained quickly does not apply.
