Merkel’s Former Military Adviser: If EU Rejects Ukraine Peace Plan, It Will Walk into a Big War
Nov. 27—In a Nov. 23 interview with Berliner Zeitung, former military advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel 2006-2013, Gen. (ret.) Erich Vad says the U.S. plan for Ukraine is “definitely a significant step forward.” In his view, it “much more concrete than the initiatives that have come from Brazil, China, South Africa, the Vatican, and other countries. I therefore find it inappropriate for the European side to simply criticize and hysterically talk about capitulation without finally making its own constructive proposals. Europe has had almost three and a half years to do so, and nothing has come of it. This peace plan is not perfect, but it is definitely more substantial than anything that has been done in the past. Furthermore, the Europeans have done nothing that could have led to a balance of interests and dialogue with Russia.”
Vad points out that the U.S. plan covers a broader perspective beyond the Ukraine aspects. It provides for the “extension of the New Start agreement, which expires in February 2026…. This is an agreement to limit the strategic delivery systems and warheads of the U.S. and Russia. An extension would be a very important building block for the revitalization of arms control and disarmament.”
It is important that the Europeans don’t block the process, Vad says: "The alternative would be to continue a war with a high potential for escalation that could turn into a European war….
“The peace plan takes Russia’s key security interests into account. NATO membership is off the table, as is the possible deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. Ultimately, Ukraine’s desired NATO membership and the intention to station Western troops in Ukraine were the causes of the war in Ukraine.
“The one-dimensional European approach of supplying weapons without a single attempt at diplomatic reconciliation has failed completely. That is why Europeans are completely sidelined in the drafting of the peace plan and in the ongoing negotiations with Russia. In the end, Russia will get what it wants—and, incidentally, already has. The U.S. wants out of this war in Europe and is making a lot of money with the plan, with an eye on the reconstruction program and bilateral investment projects with the Russians. The Europeans are paying and are on the sidelines.”
As for Germany in particular, Vad says: “We need military deterrence against all eventualities. This also means that we must make the Bundeswehr operational again and reposition NATO in the East. But in parallel with these measures, we finally need diplomacy, a balance of interests, dialogue, and disarmament. And that is the case with all the weaknesses of this current peace plan. It is an attempt at a diplomatic breakthrough that should not be blocked by the Europeans, but rather improved and pursued.”