SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich has called for even stronger diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “After three years of war, we must recognize that this war will probably not be decided on the battlefield alone,” he said in a foreign policy keynote speech in Berlin.
“Strategic stability” through Scholz’s phone call with Putin
In this context, Mützenich defended the telephone conversation between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This is by no means about sham negotiations or talking for the sake of talking. Such discussions are crucial in order to exchange positions and maintain at least some strategic stability in these dangerous times,” he said in the “Willy Brandt Lecture 2024”.
The SPD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag acknowledged that the debate about a diplomatic solution to the conflict has been intensifying in recent weeks. “Others dared to have this public discussion a little earlier,” he said, also referring to himself. The SPD parliamentary group leader had early on advocated for more diplomacy and was heavily criticized for it.
Warning of further escalation
In recent months, neither Russia nor Ukraine have made significant territorial progress, emphasized Mützenich. At the same time, reports of the deployment of North Korean soldiers and Yemeni mercenaries on the Russian side showed that the war was threatening to expand further and further.
The consequences of a further escalation would be devastating not only for Ukraine and Europe, but for the entire world, said Mützenich in his “Willy Brandt Lecture 2024”. Therefore, diplomatic efforts must be intensified regardless of short-term chances of success. “We must do both: continue to support Ukraine and at the same time continually look for ways to end this war.”
“Putin’s imperialist ambitions” underestimated
Looking back, Mützenich acknowledged the SPD’s mistakes in Russia policy. “As social democrats we must recognize, I do, that we underestimated Putin’s imperialist ambitions and the danger posed by energy dependence on Russia,” he said. But it is also true that these political misjudgments also occurred in other political camps and countries.