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Ukrainian artillery fire in the south of the country, September 15, 2022
Photo: Ihor Tkachov / AFP
Isn't it strange?
Russia escalates the war, orders partial mobilization for the first time since the Second World War, threatens to use nuclear weapons again – and many in Germany are deliberately relaxed.
Some even joke.
"Even if Putin announced that he would drop an atomic bomb on my head every day for all eternity - I would still not be afraid," wrote the well-known TV joker Wigald Boning in a well-received tweet.
The Nagasaki disasters?
Hiroshima?
Who cares!
Apparently, many Germans are now more afraid of nuclear power plants than of nuclear weapons.
Now one could argue that Boning is a comedian - if he didn't formulate what seems to prevail as the majority opinion: emphasized serenity with simultaneous planlessness.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) calls the partial mobilization a sign of political and military weakness.
After the speech by the Russian head of state, long-time foreign expert and CDU member of parliament Norbert Röttgen said: »Putin is under pressure.
He had something to announce: partial mobilization to keep up the appearance of strength.
It's actually a weakness." His party friend Roderich Kiesewetter assisted: "Putin's narrative is split and threats.
Using nuclear weapons is Putin's last resort intended to unsettle the West.
We can not permit that.
We have to send a coordinated European signal to Ukraine.« The coordinated signal, one suspects, is the battle tanks that the CDU, as well as parts of the Greens and FDP, have been demanding for days.
So counter escalation with escalation?
Judging by the initial reactions, Putin's threats do not make people think more about a possible end to the war, rather they feel vindicated in the »Now more than ever«.
More guns, more sanctions.
Heads of state are also demonstratively relaxed internationally: "We have often heard his (Putin's, d.A.) rhetoric about nuclear weapons, it leaves us cold," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
For real?
Who are we"?
The West"?
Perhaps one has to have grown up fearing nuclear weapons in order not to be so indifferent to the threat of a nuclear strike.
Putin has said that if Russia's territorial integrity is threatened, all available means will be used, including nuclear weapons.
"It's not a bluff," he adds.
Russia's integrity - what is Russian territory?
Will the occupied Ukrainian regions around Donetsk and Luhansk, in which he wants to hold pseudo-referentials from Friday, also soon be considered Russian territory?
So far I have been overemphasized a little what a good sign it is that Putin is under pressure.
Many seem to expect him to give up of his own accord.
When asked how likely a nuclear strike is, military expert Thomas Giegold on NTV quotes "intelligence and military analysts" as saying Putin is unlikely to use nuclear weapons.
I hope these experts know what they are talking about.
It could just as easily be interpreted the other way around: that when Putin is under pressure it is an extremely alarming sign.
What if precisely this pressure leads to the use of weapons of mass destruction, which would primarily affect Ukraine and its neighboring countries?
The more likely the Ukrainians are to win, the greater the likelihood that Putin will do something irrational.
After all, President Biden was clearer at the United Nations in New York: "A nuclear war can never be won and must never be waged," he said.
Despite this, there seems to be no plan or even the slightest hint of how to end this war far and wide.
Namely, to stop the destruction and death in Ukraine.
It is understandable that the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will not agree to a ceasefire at the moment, after the Ukrainian army was able to liberate several areas.
But what about in winter?
How long does EU support last?
They are not as united as the Europeans sound in the official statements, as was already evident during the negotiations on an EU-wide oil embargo.
Orbán is already demanding an end to economic sanctions by the end of the year.
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You don't have to agree with Orbán's populist demand to see that the time for policy adjustments, possibly a new diplomatic initiative, has never been better.
It's fermenting in Russia.
Due to the partial mobilization, many Russians can no longer suppress the war and its brutal consequences.
The generation of parents who were conscripted in Afghanistan should not want their sons, nephews and grandchildren to be burned up in a senseless war.
The criticism is getting louder, there are more protests, albeit at a low level given the state reprisals.
Last week, the famous singer Alla Pugachewa - known in Germany for her duet with Udo Lindenberg in 1987 - spoke out against the war.
In addition, the circle of those who turn their backs on Russia is growing every day.
India's Prime Minister Modi warned Putin last week that this was not the time for war.
Even China called on Russia to sign a ceasefire at the United Nations in New York.
In a remarkable television interview, Turkish President Erdoğan called on Putin to leave the occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea.
Now is the moment to think about ending the war.
So far it has only been said how the war should not end - not with a peace dictated by Russia, and the results of mock referendums will not be accepted either.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeated this in New York.
That sounded helpless.
Would his predecessor have been so at a loss?
Angela Merkel has earned a reputation
to find solutions in hopeless situations.
Wouldn't she be a good mediator?