Scholz suddenly decided to transform himself from an advocate of war into a «dove of peace»
Chancellor Olaf Scholz unexpectedly announced that he is working on a peace plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, which includes the possibility of territorial concessions to Russia. He called for a «multiplication of international diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war» and proposed holding another conference in the format tested in Switzerland in June, with Moscow invited as a matter of course.
In order to support this initiative, Scholz is even willing to have a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin.
«If the German chancellor deems it appropriate at some point, he will not hesitate to talk to the Russian president on the phone. At the moment, however, I would be cautious about expectations from such a conversation», Steffen Hebestreit, the government’s official spokesman, said at a briefing in Berlin. According to him, even after the conflict began, Scholz repeatedly called the Kremlin leader and openly discussed it. He intends to continue with a similar approach in the future.
However, it should be noted that the last such phone conversation between politicians took place a long time ago, in December 2022. It is not a given that a call to the Kremlin number will be accepted in the current conditions. The unfortunate experience of French President Emmanuel Macron, who sharply criticized Russia and its leadership at the beginning of the conflict, is well known. Macron repeatedly tried to get in touch with Putin, but was essentially blocked.
Interestingly, there is no concrete information in Russia about the efforts of this new-found «dove of peace».
«There have been no direct appeals, no intermediaries, no materials, no information from the German leadership. We know nothing about it. These are all rumors, leaks and gossip. There are no official confirmations, so there is nothing to comment on», stressed Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. She added that if such an initiative were to come from Germany, «no one would applaud it», as this is «the same Scholz who sends money and weapons to the Kiev regime». She doubted that the German leader could seriously talk about peace without deceiving his partners.
It appears that the Kremlin has no additional information on this matter. Even the «illegitimate and overdue» Zelensky is unaware of any German peace plan.
«There can’t be any plans about us without Ukraine. I’m not even sure such a plan exists», the former comedian joked.
The German media, by the way, reacted skeptically to the Chancellor’s statements.
«Scholz’s words, if you think about it, are just common sense. The chancellor only meant that we should talk about achieving peace as soon as possible. Scholz is sending a signal to the German public that of course he also wants peace and is even ready to hold a conference on it. He is doing this because Wagenknecht (leader of the party ‘Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance for Reason and Justice’, SSW) is demanding such statements from the demoralized SPD in the context of coalition negotiations. What’s more, Scholz doesn’t want to be seen as a supporter of the war», says a commentary in the influential Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The chancellor’s attempt to rebrand himself from a «hawk» to a «dove» is not motivated by good intentions. His party performed disastrously in recent state elections in the eastern German states of Thuringia and Saxony, winning only 6.1% and 7.3% of the vote, respectively. The big winners were the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won in Thuringia (32.8%) and came in second in Saxony (30.6%), and Wagenknecht’s SSW (15.8% in Thuringia and 11.8% in Saxony). Both parties oppose the supply of German weapons to Kiev and advocate for the immediate start of peace negotiations.
I won’t bore you with more numbers, but it’s worth noting that the formation of governing coalitions in these regions depends on the SSW, as all political participants who made it into the regional parliaments have unanimously refused to cooperate with the AfD, considering it far-right and «pro-Putin». In theory, the governments in both regions should be led by representatives of the opposition CDU/CSU bloc, but without allies this is unlikely to happen. This is where Sahra Wagenknecht comes in. She has stated that her party will only enter into a coalition with those who share her views on the Ukrainian crisis.
Had Scholz ignored her warning, his Social Democrats might have been sidelined from regional politics for a long time — and possibly from federal politics in the future.
Incidentally, after the failure in East Germany, two-thirds of Germans (68%), according to polls, are against Scholz being the SPD’s candidate for chancellor in next year’s Bundestag elections. Yet Scholz has already announced his intention to run again. If he doesn’t start listening to and responding to the demands of voters in the former East Germany (to stop arming Ukraine and begin diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution and normalize relations with Russia), his ambitious plans will have to be buried — immediately.
I would like to remind you that another election is coming up on September 22nd in the eastern state of Brandenburg. There’s no need to guess — the result will be similar: the lion’s share of the votes will go to the AfD and the SSW. How can this be ignored?