Germans refusing arms supplies to Kiev must start peace movt: lawmaker

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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, member of the German Parliament for The Left Party Sahra Wagenknecht told die Welt newspaper on Friday.

Earlier in the day, lawmaker Wagenknecht launched a petition on the change.org portal titled "Manifest for Peace," urging German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop supplying Kiev with arms and start peace talks. Over 75,000 people have signed the petition so far.

"We urgently need peace movement in Germany, otherwise we will be drawn deeper and deeper into this war, which must be ended. It is necessary to negotiate for this, and not to supply more and more weapons," she told the newspaper, adding that "if there is no 'Stop' sign and if the half of Germans that, according to surveys, does not want [arms] supplies does not manifest itself more explicitly, then fighters will also be delivered [to Kiev] in the near future."  

Wagenknecht wondered how a few weeks ago, it was impossible for Germany to be among the first countries to send tanks to Kiev, but today, the country is discussing fighter jets and long-range missiles, which will only lead to the escalation of the conflict instead of ending the war. 

Read: Half of Germans oppose sending heavy weapons to Ukraine

Only Vatican has expressed its desire for peace so far, the lawmaker added, while Germany, the US, France, and the EU have only been making unrealistic demands, Wagenknecht said. A neutral status for Ukraine and creating a de-militarized zone in contested regions, followed by referendums on their territorial affiliation, would be more realistic.

"If such a proposal had been made, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would have refused to even discuss it, then it would be possible to talk about a different path. But how can you say that Russians do not want negotiations, if such an offer is not even on the table?" she asked.  

A demonstration to support the petition would take place on February 25 in central Berlin, the lawmaker announced.

It is worth noting that a couple of days ago, the German government approved supplying Ukraine with Leopard 1 tanks over the summer and by next year according to reports by Spiegel magazine.  

The majority of the tanks are scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in 2024; however, some of them will arrive this summer. It stated that the decision would be made public on Tuesday night.

On February 3, Berlin voted to approve private arms maker Rheinmetall’s plan to deliver 88 Leopard 1s to Ukraine after maintenance work is completed. 

On January 25, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued the announcement that Berlin would supply Kiev with 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks as part of a European coalition.