LOS ANGELES.–Newly minted 69-year-old German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been pandering to his Democratic Socialist governing coalition, acting tough on Russia, and, out of the blue, Israel. Just think about Merz stepping up to play tough guy with Russia and Israel, with Russian losing 28 million citizens in WW II and Germans systematically slaughtering 6 million Jews. But that all seems forgotten to Merz who’s only recently taken the reigns of the German State. Merz is due to meet with 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tomorrow in Berlin to discuss receiving German-made Taurus long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. Does Merz plans sound consistent to reaching a settlement on a long-term peace in Ukraine? Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Merz’s remarks show the caliber of politicians now controlling the European Union.
Merz can’t possibly think that giving Ukraine “long-range fire” would contribute to a settlement of the over three-year war. Russian and Ukraine have been locked into a grinding, WW I trench warfare along the 600-mile or 1,000 km front line. “He [Merz] said yesterday with such pretentiousness that from now and forever there are no restrictions on the range of strikes,” Lavrov told reporters with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fridan. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that any country supplying long-range weapons with the intent to striking deep inside Russia would be considered part of the war. What is Germany doing with Merz barely completing his government coalition? Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, a reliable source of Putin’s views, said any long-range missiles that strike deep inside Russia would be considered a dangerous “escalation” of the war.
Merz has overstepped his boundaries threatening Russia, and, more recently, Israel for its conflict in Gaza. Where is Merz telling Hamas to return all Israeli hostages and leave the Gaza Strip? Saying that the gloves have come off for the battle with the Kremlin shows that Merz has already gone over the deep end in only three weeks. Germany is the last country to threaten Russia or Israel with unspecified actions. Saying that Ukraine can now use long-range German Taurus missiles would be disastrous to the peace process. Merz acts like he’s give Zelensky unconditional backing but, in reality, his actions could add to Ukraine’s destruction by escalating the conflict. When Merz meets Zelensky tomorrow in Berlin, he’d better think twice before delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Merz says 78-year-old President Donald Trump backs his plans to give Ukraine long-range missiles.
Trump never told Merz or anyone at the EU he would back their sanctions against the Kremlin designed to coerce Putin into a 30-day ceasefire. EU officials take Zelensky’s position that Russia is a terrorist state, menacing its neighbors and threatening to seize more land in Europe. Lavrov said other German officials don’t agree with Merz, like former German Chancellors Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel certainly don’t support escalating the war. Since Merz took over as Chancellor, he seems to adopt a new German militancy on the world stage. When has any world leader seen German taking a more aggressive role on Russia, or, more recently, Israel’s war in Gaza? Putin warned last years if the U.S. or EU supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles he would target the U.S. and European capitals with a new generation of hypersonic ballistic missiles.
What is Merz trying to accomplish by giving Zelensky long-range missiles to pressure Putin into settling the conflict on Zelensky’s terms. Zelensky and the EU have adopted the opposite of every peace proposal over the last three years, including recent one by the United State meeting in long discussion with Putin. Merz should know that his treats against Russia could easily backfire with Putin responding harshly to to any decision tomorrow to supply Ukraine long-range German-made Taurus missiles. Merz has gotten in over his head, not knowing the specifics of what it would take to end the Ukraine War. Slapping the Kremlin with more economic sanctions and now giving Ukraine the green light to strike deep inside Russia will only escalate the conflict. Merz has shown for all to see he lacks the experience and wisdom to know what he’s doing.
Merz needs to go back to the drawing board before it’s too late. He’s bought Zelensky theory of the war that Ukraine is merely a victim of a viscous, illegal land grab. Zelensky refuses to go along with Trump’s peace plans because they involve trading land-for-peace with Merz apparently accepting Zelensky’s views. Whatever Trump said recently about Putin going crazy launching more missiles and drone strikes, the fact is that Trump wants no part of escalating the conflict. He wants the conflict ended at the earliest possible time. Who in their right mind thinks that Merz’s threats on the Russian homeland help the peace process? Merz can’t possibly think that giving Zelensky the weapons and green light to attack deep inside Russia brings the war closer to an end. Merz needs some urgent senior consultation before he makes an irreversible mistake.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
