The Wiesbaden-based Martin Niemöller Foundation, a senior institution of the Lutheran Church of Germany, has called for “immediate and serious” negotiations on a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Only a ceasefire would form the prerequisite for being able to conduct negotiations on a peace agreement and a future peace order, the foundation said in Wiesbaden on May 27. The statement calls for solving the Ukraine issue in a broader context of East-West confidence-building and arms control agreements.
The foundation described the proposal by former Bundeswehr Inspector General Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.), who is also former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, to convene the NATO-Russia Council as “a promising way to change lanes from war to negotiations.” Withdrawing Russian troops while reducing sanctions could be the starting point for talks, he said.
Hopes for a victorious military peace in Ukraine with the help of Western weapons, military training and logistics are ill-founded, the foundation said. “It would push militarily overpowered Russia into a corner that could tempt it into even more dangerous, possibly nuclear, escalation steps.” For that reason, he said, the red lines on arms deliveries and military assistance should not be constantly moved forward. Nor should the Bundeswehr be upgraded with €100 billion, the statement says, calling for action on three main venues:
