On an election poster by Annalena Baerbock for the 2021 federal election was the slogan: "No weapons and armaments in war zones".

A dove of peace flew in the background, the notorious imperative was emblazoned in the foreground: “Ready because you are”.

According to the latest surveys, just over half of all Germans are willing to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks to the war zone in Ukraine.

The other half is not prepared to forget the old pacifist slogans.

Simon Strauss

Editor in the Feuilleton.

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Janine Wissler, the leader of the Left Party, barricaded herself behind her during Anne Will's evening debate program.

Their biggest concern: More and more arms deliveries could lead to military escalation beyond Ukraine, affecting us and other Western countries as well, and in the worst case even triggering a Third World War.

From their point of view, there is only one solution: Get out of the military tunnel and get to the negotiating table.

Reclaim Crimea?

A wonderful idea, the German-Ukrainian publicist Marina Weisband replies laconically, but that would mean that the conflict would be frozen, the line of a possible ceasefire would be the new borders of their home country, and Russia's attack would be rewarded with considerable territory gains.

Weisband also uses her appearance to rail against the federal government and especially against Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

He never made it clear what the actual goal of his Ukraine policy was.

Is it really about restoring the country's territorial integrity?

Retake Crimea?

Or not many rather - according to Weisband's somewhat disturbing theory - that the war should last as long as possible in order to weaken Russia?

Too much to die, too little to live

Rhetorically provocative as usual, Weisband even goes one better: "Ukraine gets too much to die for and too little to live on." The western world seems to accept that their homeland is slowly bleeding dry.

Given the sheer volume of war material being shipped to Ukraine, that seems an unlikely assumption.

Weisband is on safer ground again when she accuses the German government of having a fluid position with regard to arms deliveries: "We constantly explain why we can't send something in order to then send it after all".

On the other hand, Kevin Kühnert, SPD general secretary and Scholz confidant of the more second hour, has to rebel.

From the outset, the chancellor disclosed the principles of his decision-making: Loyalty to alliances and risk-sharing had top priority.

He never ruled out anything that he later had to concede, Olaf Scholz never drew "red lines".

Kühnert is silent on this

Objection by Carlo Masala, Professor of International Politics at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich.

Only a few weeks after the outbreak of the Russian war of aggression, Olaf Scholz explained in a "Spiegel" interview that the supply of battle tanks would lead to an escalation and was therefore ruled out.

Kühnert is silent on this.