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"Go to hell"?
The peace philosopher Richard David Precht
Photo: Ingo Wagner / dpa
The Kremlin army has been fighting in Ukraine in violation of international law for more than four months, and several atrocities by Russian soldiers have now become public.
The West is largely in agreement to support Ukraine - "for as long as necessary," the G7 states recently agreed in a statement.
In Germany, several celebrities, scientists and journalists prefer a different approach.
In a new open letter, the writers around TV philosopher Richard David Precht appeal to the West to end the Ukraine war through negotiations with Russia.
The recent open letter enrages the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk.
On Twitter he writes: »Not again, what a bunch of pseudo-intellectual loosers All of you Varwicks, Vads, Kluges, Prechts, Yogeshwars, Zehs & Co. should finally go to hell with your defeatist 'advice'.
Bye"
Melnyk refers to an article in Die Zeit: the authors of the letters argued that only a "major diplomatic offensive" could "lead out of the current impasse".
The longer the war lasts, the more unclear it becomes which war aim is associated with the measures taken - meaning arms deliveries and sanctions.
"No clue"
The list of signatories is long: in addition to Precht, Erich Vad, Ranga Yogeshwar, Juli Zeh, Jakob Augstein, Alexander Kluge and Ilija Trojanow are among them.
Many had already signed a similar open letter initiated by Alice Schwarzer in the spring.
At that time, too, the tenor was that Ukraine, as a country under attack, should please lay down its arms and reach a consensus with attacker Vladimir Putin.
In addition to Melnyk, the political scientist Carla Masala in particular sharply criticized the recent letter.
Nowhere in the letter is the problem raised that the Russian Federation has repeatedly said that this war will only end on its terms.
"Nowhere is a solution offered for how to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine (and indeed the whole of it)," the security expert writes.
Masala continues to write that peace is a "laudable idea," but the undersigned around Precht had "not the faintest idea" about how it could be implemented.
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