CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who previously pushed for more military aid, has changed tack and now says it is time to focus on how to end the conflict with Russia
The war did not contribute much to the cost of living here. We now have to import natural gas from different nations, and apparently Ukraine was the #1 supplier of sunflower seeds, but that’s mostly it.
The cost of living mainly rose due to a housing bubble and inflation. And of course, you’ve got lots of individuals that lost their livelihood from COVID lockdowns, post-COVID chronic fatigue and climate-related catastrophes.
I also have no idea what you mean by the current government being opposed to ending the war. They don’t want to invade Russia to defeat Putin, no one here wants to try that. But unlike the far right, they are in favor of supporting Ukraine to hold Putin off.
If your idea of ending the war is giving Putin half of Ukraine and hoping he’s then satiated, I do not see how that should work. It’s not like Russia needs more territory. Putin started this war, because he’s mentally ill. He will start another war in a few years, if this one is “ended” by sacrificing Ukraine, because he will still be mentally ill.
Well it wouldn’t be half of Ukraine, it would be about 20% by area and less than that by population.
Its worth noting the fighting for Ukraine to keep that 20% is done involuntarily. People are literally being forced to die, make their partners widows, traumatise their family, for this 20%.
It’s easy enough sacrificing hundreds of thousands of other people’s lives (I’m assuming you’re not typing this from the donbas) for this small rural farming end of Ukraine, but that doesn’t make it right.
I deliberately chose a high number, because I’m saying there’s no reason this would satiate Putin. He has no need for those 20% land. Why should he stop when he gets them?
If he would restart the war, why is he pushing for peace talks?
The war is both going worse than people expected it to go for him, and Russia is also making progress.
Stopping the war, then restarting it risks a restarting of the war being impossible due to Ukraine signing security treaties with NATO members, and Ukraine building it’s army up as a result of this war. Furthermore, given rolling the “invade Ukraine dice” went worse for Russia the first time than expected, why would they, or any similarly inclined nation, do it?
The economic war with Russia very obviously contributed to the economic problems in Europe. This is a well documented fact. The war had a significant impact on energy prices, led to industry shut downs that created mass unemployment, and raised the cost of living for the people. This is all on top of the problems that stemmed from the pandemic.
I also have no idea what you mean by the current government being opposed to ending the war. They don’t want to invade Russia to defeat Putin, no one here wants to try that.
Russia literally made a realistic proposal for a ceasefire just a few days ago. Germany along with the rest of the west immediately rejected it.
But unlike the far right, they are in favor of supporting Ukraine to hold Putin off.
The only thing they’ve accomplished was to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians died, and millions more had their lives ruined. Russia will very obviously win this war, and it’s absolutely incredible that after two years there are still people who can’t understand this. The west was responsible for sabotaging Istanbul peace deal two months into the war, and now it’s rejected a second peace deal. People who support continuation of the war are utterly deplorable.
If your idea of ending the war is giving Putin half of Ukraine and hoping he’s then satiated, I do not see how that should work.
Ukraine will be in a worse position with each and every day going forward. Western support peaked during the disastrous offensive Ukraine tried to do last year. Ukrainian army is now continuously becoming weaker while Russian army strengthens. The end result might very well be that there is no Ukraine left. People who do not see how making a realistic peace makes sense are the ones who will be responsible for that.
Putin started this war, because he’s mentally ill. He will start another war in a few years, if this one is “ended” by sacrificing Ukraine, because he will still be mentally ill.
Putin did not start the war because he is mentally ill. The reasons for the war are well understood, and many experts have warned about it for decades. Here is a lecture from John Mearsheimer back from 2015 where he accurately predicts that Russia would be forced to intervene in Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4
Here’s the chief of NATO openly admitting why the war started
The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.
The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders. He has got the exact opposite.
The war did not contribute much to the cost of living here. We now have to import natural gas from different nations, and apparently Ukraine was the #1 supplier of sunflower seeds, but that’s mostly it.
The cost of living mainly rose due to a housing bubble and inflation. And of course, you’ve got lots of individuals that lost their livelihood from COVID lockdowns, post-COVID chronic fatigue and climate-related catastrophes.
I also have no idea what you mean by the current government being opposed to ending the war. They don’t want to invade Russia to defeat Putin, no one here wants to try that. But unlike the far right, they are in favor of supporting Ukraine to hold Putin off.
If your idea of ending the war is giving Putin half of Ukraine and hoping he’s then satiated, I do not see how that should work. It’s not like Russia needs more territory. Putin started this war, because he’s mentally ill. He will start another war in a few years, if this one is “ended” by sacrificing Ukraine, because he will still be mentally ill.
Well it wouldn’t be half of Ukraine, it would be about 20% by area and less than that by population.
Its worth noting the fighting for Ukraine to keep that 20% is done involuntarily. People are literally being forced to die, make their partners widows, traumatise their family, for this 20%.
It’s easy enough sacrificing hundreds of thousands of other people’s lives (I’m assuming you’re not typing this from the donbas) for this small rural farming end of Ukraine, but that doesn’t make it right.
I deliberately chose a high number, because I’m saying there’s no reason this would satiate Putin. He has no need for those 20% land. Why should he stop when he gets them?
If he would restart the war, why is he pushing for peace talks?
The war is both going worse than people expected it to go for him, and Russia is also making progress.
Stopping the war, then restarting it risks a restarting of the war being impossible due to Ukraine signing security treaties with NATO members, and Ukraine building it’s army up as a result of this war. Furthermore, given rolling the “invade Ukraine dice” went worse for Russia the first time than expected, why would they, or any similarly inclined nation, do it?
The economic war with Russia very obviously contributed to the economic problems in Europe. This is a well documented fact. The war had a significant impact on energy prices, led to industry shut downs that created mass unemployment, and raised the cost of living for the people. This is all on top of the problems that stemmed from the pandemic.
Russia literally made a realistic proposal for a ceasefire just a few days ago. Germany along with the rest of the west immediately rejected it.
The only thing they’ve accomplished was to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians died, and millions more had their lives ruined. Russia will very obviously win this war, and it’s absolutely incredible that after two years there are still people who can’t understand this. The west was responsible for sabotaging Istanbul peace deal two months into the war, and now it’s rejected a second peace deal. People who support continuation of the war are utterly deplorable.
Ukraine will be in a worse position with each and every day going forward. Western support peaked during the disastrous offensive Ukraine tried to do last year. Ukrainian army is now continuously becoming weaker while Russian army strengthens. The end result might very well be that there is no Ukraine left. People who do not see how making a realistic peace makes sense are the ones who will be responsible for that.
Putin did not start the war because he is mentally ill. The reasons for the war are well understood, and many experts have warned about it for decades. Here is a lecture from John Mearsheimer back from 2015 where he accurately predicts that Russia would be forced to intervene in Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4
Here’s a study from RAND from 2019 that explains why US may want to goad Russia into a war in Ukraine https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3063.html
Here’s the chief of NATO openly admitting why the war started
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_218172.htm
The fact that people keep pretending the war started because Putin is a mad czar, shows utter lack of intellectual integrity on their part.
“Let us have some of what we stole” isn’t a solution for a peace that lasts. You should be allowed to know better than this.
Wait until you find out what the alternative is.