This war was avoidable. The German government is now failing again with its Ukraine policy.

Was this war avoidable, a war that has cost and could cost the lives of so many people? A war that will also cost us a great deal in Germany. A war that - if it escalates into a nuclear war - could also cost us our lives.

My opinion is that the war was avoidable and could perhaps be ended quickly.

But the German government, above all, would have to move, and the EU and itself would have to stand up to US policy. But now it is about to fail again.

I believe that Russia would not have launched this war of aggression, which is contrary to international law, if

- the Ukrainian government in Kiev had been prepared to implement the Minsk Agreement and the Steinmeier formula, which Steinmeier had negotiated with Ukrainian President Selenskiy. However, he dropped this agreement when nationalists opposed it. (In the Steinmeier formula, the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass looks like this: first the granting of temporary special status in individual areas of the Donbass and then final validity after the OSCE's positive assessment of the elections in the areas not controlled by the government). (Berlin welcomes signing of "Steinmeier formula" (ukrinform.de))

- but the Ukrainian government declared a week before the invasion that it would not even talk to the representatives in the Donbass because they were terrorists. This seemed to block a peaceful path to the reunification of Ukraine; instead, even before the Russian invasion, fighting escalated on the inner-Ukrainian front line.

- the German government made the mistake of supporting Luhansk and Donetsk with a lot of money despite the refusal of the government in Kiev to negotiate with them; instead, it should have threatened them with sanctions if they did not start negotiations; Russia sanctioned them because it would not comply with the Minsk Agreement, Kiev would not.

This mistake should be corrected. One should demand willingness from all sides to implement the Minsk Agreement according to the Steinmeier formula;

The second mistake of the German government was not to state clearly that it will not allow Georgia and Ukraine to join. This admission could actually be prevented by the German government, because a unanimous decision is required for the admission of members. So a single member can prevent admission.

Germany was morally obliged to do so. Its government - like the governments of other NATO countries - had assured the Soviet Union: If theirs withdraws the Red Army and grants independence to the Eastern European states, we will not take advantage of this and we will not extend our military power at your expense and we will not admit members of the Warsaw Pact into NATO.

But that did not have to mean less security for these countries. The NATO countries and the Soviet Union had, after all, agreed in the Charter of Paris on a common security system with equal security for all European states (and thus also before and with Russia).

Germany's policy, however, already gave up resistance in the 1990s to the US policy of exploiting Russia's weakness and extending Western and above all US military power to the Russian border.

In the weeks before the attack on Ukraine, Russia had once again presented NATO and the US with the demand to keep its promise: No admission of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, withdrawal of NATO from Eastern Europe, withdrawal of missiles from the Russian border.

The USA and NATO have refused to do this. It can be assumed that the French and German governments have also not given Russia these assurances to enforce this. This could ultimately have been the main reason for the war of aggression.

This should now be corrected as a matter of urgency: The German government should assure Russia that it will not agree to the admission of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO. It should continue to call on NATO to create a common security system with Russia for all European countries and propose the first steps towards this.

The refusal to respect Russia's legitimate security interests and the security interests of Eastern Ukrainians has cost the lives of many people in Ukraine when their deaths are the responsibility of Russia and its criminal war.

In return for the above offers, one should demand from Russia the immediate cessation of fighting, the withdrawal of its troops and the recognition of Ukraine's sovereignty and the willingness to negotiate a peaceful solution for Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.

The strategy of trying to bring Russia to its knees will cost many people their lives. It will cost us in Western Europe a lot of social security. It could even lead to the uninhabitability of Europe (and also Ukraine) if there were a nuclear war or a hit on one of the Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Let us now stimulate a public debate on whether we really want to go down this path of confrontation of the German government, the EU and NATO with all its possible and certain costs.

I advocate opposing it and calling for a negotiated solution and taking to the streets to demand this from the members of the Bundestag.

Wolfgang Lieberknecht (at the blockade of Limerick airport in Ireland by the Initiative for a World without War (Worldbeyondwar). US soldiers are flown to war zones in the Middle East via this airport. The Irish government allows it, even though the country is neutral.

PS: This is my opinion, which I hereby put up for discussion: We as "Little People" should instigate it, we are now all over the world already the victims of the escalating conflict. It would be great if you could participate by commenting here or by writing - info@internationale-friedensfabrik-wanfried.org.

UN condemns attack on Ukraine Populous countries do not support Western response

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called on Russia to end its aggression. India and China abstained. Several countries that are themselves experiencing or have experienced war and have suffered or are suffering from Western wars of aggression in violation of international law or Western-backed coups or sanctions abstained or voted against, such as Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Algeria, Nicaragua, Pakistan, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Vietnam, Tanzania, ...