250K+ people sign petition urging Scholz to stop weapons to Ukraine
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Well-known German figures sign a petition calling on the German Chancellor to end weapons supplies for Kiev.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kiev, June 16 (Reuters)
More than 250,000 people have signed a petition calling on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop increasing arms supplies to Ukraine and initiate peace talks on the issue, data on the change.org petition website showed on Sunday.
The petition titled "Manifest for Peace" was launched on the change.org portal by Sahra Wagenknecht, a German lawmaker from The Left Party, and prominent German feminist journalist Alice Schwarzer on Friday.
"A quarter of a million supporters have already signed the Manifest for Peace. Pressure from our side can lead to results!" Wagenknecht wrote on Twitter.
Wagenknecht told die Welt newspaper on Friday that Germans that support peace talks and reject their country sending arms to Ukraine must organize a peace movement or the situation will deteriorate and Germany will be dragged deeper into the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
She also wondered how a few weeks ago, it was impossible for Germany to be among the first countries to send tanks to Kiev, but now the country is discussing fighter jets and long-range missiles.
The lawmaker urged Germans to take part in a rally in support of the petition in the center of Berlin on February 25.
The petition will become one of the most signed on the portal if it gathers at least 300,000 signatures. Those who have already signed the petition include well-known German politicians, writers, journalists, and figures of culture, art, and science.
Western countries, including Germany, ramped up their military support for Ukraine after the start of the war on February 24, 2022.
Berlin has been supplying Kiev with various types of weapon systems, including air defense missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, self-propelled artillery, and anti-aircraft guns.
A couple of weeks ago, a German government spokesperson confirmed that the German Bundestag voted to supply Kiev with 88 Leopard 1 tanks.
In late January 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Berlin would supply Kiev with 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks as part of a European coalition.
Read more: YouGov: Very few Germans would take up arms to defend homeland
