With Anne Will (ARD), the guests invoke the unity and strength of the West in the conflict with Russia. Sahra Wagenknecht says goodbye as a serious discussant.
Berlin – Vladimir Putin is a villain. You can quickly agree on that in this country. He was the head of the secret service, he waged war in Chechnya, stole land from Georgia, he occupied Crimea and also took areas in the east from Ukraine and has been waging war there for eight years. Constanze Stelzenmüller pointed this out to Anne Will on ARD. Their topic was: No relaxation in the conflict with Putin – how can a new war be prevented?
But currently, according to Anne Will’s security expert, “we are already in a state of massive Russian aggression.” Which is why the crisis should now be called the Russia crisis.
Anne Will (ARD): Von der Leyen evokes unity between Europe and the USA in the Ukraine crisis
The majority of the guests in the ARD talk round followed Stelzenmüller’s point of view. He shares the analysis that it is “pointed to the button”, said Lars Klingbeil. Anne Will spoke of the “end of diplomacy” and asked what Olaf Scholz’s visit to the Kremlin had brought about. Little to nothing if you take the Russian troop movements.
| Anne Will on ARD | The guests of the show from February 20th, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) | EU Commission President |
| Lars Klingbeil (SPD) | party leader |
| Norbert Röttgen (CDU) | Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee |
| Sahra Wagenknecht (The Left) | Member of the German Bundestag |
| Constanze Stelzenmuller | Foreign and Security Policy Publicist, The Brookings Institution Washington, DC |
But Klingbeil wouldn’t be a politician if he didn’t see the positive side of Anne Will: “We stand by each other.” And Ursula von der Leyen agreed. You have never seen such unity between the US and Europe. It almost sounded like whistling in the woods. But of course the President of the Commission emphasized the strength of the West. If Putin were to invade Ukraine, Russia would be hit at its weakest points: the economy and finances. The country would then be cut off from international finance.
Anne Will (ARD): Sahra Wagenknecht castigates NATO as a provocateur and attacks Ukraine
But does Putin want to risk an invasion at all? “What’s that supposed to bring him?” Sahra Wagenknecht asked Anne Will, not entirely wrongly. Because after speculating about the intentions of the Kremlin ruler for a number of talk shows, he has now made his goals clear himself. He wants to turn the wheel of history back to 1997 and see the political conditions that prevailed at that time restored. That also means: without the NATO East expansion. “Putin wants to revise Gorbachev,” concluded Norbert Röttgen.
The broadcast
Anne Will, the first, from Sunday, February 20th, 9:45 p.m. No relaxation in the conflict with Putin – how can a new war be prevented? The program in the ARD media library.
After all, Putin is concerned with security guarantees, explained Wagenknecht, who castigated NATO as a provocateur. But when she attacked Ukraine because of her military defense against the separatists in Donbass (Ukrainian territory), she left the group of serious discussants.
Anne Will (ARD): SPD boss makes a fool of himself when it comes to Nord Stream 2
But who is threatening Russia? Anne Will asked. Stelzenmüller knew: “The only thing that threatens Russia is the democratic transformation of Ukraine.” Because the population wants to turn to the West. Above all, the country gets warm words, money and few weapons from him. And calls for sanctions that take effect immediately remain unheard.
Which raised the popular question about the future of Nord Stream 2. And now it was up to Lars Klingbeil to make a fool of himself. Because when asked whether a Russian invasion would mean the end of the pipeline, the SPD leader was not able to answer a clear “yes” but evaded it: “Everything would then be on the table.” As a reason for his He evaded the statement that Putin should not know beforehand what to expect. Now that was just ridiculous. (Daland sailors)
