{"id":80840,"date":"2026-10-23T00:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T22:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/?p=80840"},"modified":"2026-10-23T09:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T07:22:41","slug":"germany-has-a-crucial-role-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/germany-has-a-crucial-role-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany has a crucial role to play!"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=\u201cnone\u201d][\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=\u201cnone\u201d][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=\u201c2\/3\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1508252250311{padding-right: 20px !important;}\u201d][vc_column_text css_animation=\u201cnone\u201d]<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s war is expanding. In Ukraine, missiles and drones are claiming an ever-growing number of civilian lives, while acts of sabotage and drone incidents are increasing at an alarming rate in Germany and across Europe. What can and should we do to stop Putin\u2019s regime? We discussed this question with members of the German Bundestag and experts at our panel discussion, \u201cRussia and the West\u201d. Among the partic\u00adi\u00adpants was prominent Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery images=\u201c80847,80849,80851,80853,80855,80859,80861,80863,80865,80867,80869,80871,80873,80875,80877,80879,80881,80883,80885,80887,80889,80891,80893,80895\u201d img_size=\u201cfull\u201d interval=\u201c3\u201d][vc_column_text css_animation=\u201cnone\u201d]A recurring theme throughout the evening was Germany\u2019s role as a leading power in Europe, partic\u00adu\u00adlarly as the United States under Donald Trump retreats from its tradi\u00adtional leadership role. Trump\u2019s recent diesel deal with Vladimir Putin has caused consid\u00aderable conster\u00adnation. \u201cGermany is the engine of Europe,\u201d declared Mikhail Khodor\u00adkovsky. Repre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives of Germany\u2019s governing coalition sought to demon\u00adstrate that they were prepared to live up to this responsibility.<\/p>\n

Nils Schmid, an SPD foreign policy expert who currently serves as Parlia\u00admentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, stressed not only that military support for Ukraine must continue, but also that efforts should be made to bring the Trump admin\u00adis\u00adtration back on course: \u201cWe are trying through every available channel to make it clear to the United States that supporting Ukraine is also in America\u2019s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Germany Is Ukraine\u2019s Strongest Supporter \u2013 and Will Remain So<\/h3>\n

J\u00fcrgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the CDU\/\u200bCSU parlia\u00admentary group in the Bundestag, made a similar argument. During the Greenland crisis, for example, Europeans had demon\u00adstrated that, when it really mattered, they could take Trump\u2019s proposals \u201coff the table\u201d. The CDU politician empha\u00adsised Berlin\u2019s unwavering commitment to Kyiv: \u201cGermany is Ukraine\u2019s strongest supporter and will remain Ukraine\u2019s strongest supporter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hardt also stressed that Ukraine must win the war and regain control over its entire territory. \u201cThat would be a defeat for Putin, but not for Russia,\u201d he explained, since Russia would not be deprived of anything that had belonged to it before the invasion. \u201cRussia can end this war without losing anything it did not have before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bringing Putin to His Senses<\/h3>\n

The most promising way to achieve this, Hardt argued, was to make Putin under\u00adstand that he could not win. The goal was to \u201cbring him to his senses\u201d. Hardt also pledged that the German government would take more decisive action against Russia\u2019s shadow fleet in the future.<\/p>\n

This was music to the ears of Deborah D\u00fcring, foreign policy spokesperson for the Green parlia\u00admentary group in the Bundestag. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to that,\u201d she said. At the same time, she warned of the conse\u00adquences of further hesitation, given Germany\u2019s growing respon\u00adsi\u00adbility: \u201cIf Germany does not continue to push forward decisively and bring Europe along with it, we have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIf we really want Putin to know that we stand uncon\u00addi\u00adtionally with Ukraine, we must act much faster.\u201d Germany, she argued, could do \u201ca great deal more\u201d, both militarily and in the civilian sphere.<\/p>\n

At the same time, D\u00fcring stressed the impor\u00adtance of maintaining public support for a resolute policy on Ukraine, especially now, as voices questioning it grow louder. We must never tire of explaining that what is ultimately at stake is Europe\u2019s security \u2014 our own security. Moderator Ralf F\u00fccks asked Mikhail Khodor\u00adkovsky where Europe could identify vulner\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adities that would allow it to signif\u00adi\u00adcantly weaken Russia\u2019s ability to wage war. The former oil businessman, who spent ten years in a penal colony after supporting Russia\u2019s democ\u00adratic opposition, identified several possibilities.<\/p>\n

First, sanctions should be strengthened and enforced more effec\u00adtively. Germany, for example, could use its good relations with Beijing to persuade China to reduce technology exports to Russia, which are helping Moscow circumvent sanctions. Russian engineers and other skilled profes\u00adsionals could also be attracted to well-paid jobs in Germany and elsewhere. Given Russia\u2019s acute shortage of skilled workers, this could signif\u00adi\u00adcantly weaken the country, Khodor\u00adkovsky argued.<\/p>\n

Second, Europe needed to substan\u00adtially increase its military commitment. According to Khodor\u00adkovsky, Russia spends $250 billion a year on the war. \u201cTo believe that $40 to $60 billion from Europe is enough to stand up to Putin is naive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Putin could be \u201cbrought to his senses\u201d at all, Khodor\u00adkovsky acknowl\u00adedged that it was conceivable he might stop the war if the political costs of continuing became greater than those of ending it. At present, however, he considered this highly unlikely. The Kremlin leader was pinning his hopes on electoral victories by Germany\u2019s AfD and Marine Le Pen\u2019s Rassem\u00adblement National in France, both of which have promised to end support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutin is still looking at Europe and saying: If Germany and France decide to stop supporting Ukraine, the front will collapse. And so he says: In that case, I\u2019ll simply carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00fcring and Hardt did not entirely agree on this point. While the Green politician expressed concern that calls to end support for Ukraine had recently been growing louder \u201cnot only on the fringes of the Bundestag, but also in its political centre\u201d, Hardt expressed confi\u00addence that the governing coalition would \u201cmanage to hold things together\u201d.<\/p>\n

As Long as Putin Remains in Power, There Can Be No Peace<\/h3>\n

Khodor\u00adkovsky, meanwhile, was convinced that there could be no genuine peace as long as Putin was alive and in power \u2013 two condi\u00adtions he regarded as insep\u00ada\u00adrable. \u201cFor Putin, the war has become a means of political survival,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

Giving up the occupied Ukrainian terri\u00adtories would mean the end of Putin\u2019s regime. According to Khodor\u00adkovsky, this could only happen following a Russian military defeat, which he currently considered virtually impossible.[\/vc_column_text]<\/p>