Colonel Andre Wastner warns of a “brutal” phase in Ilnar

Colonel Andrey Wuestner warns of a “dirty” peace in Ukraine. He demanded more money from the “Ilner” to make the troops capable of defending themselves – otherwise the breakthrough would “starve”.

Years of war – just “dirty” peace in the end? The expert group warned of this situation in “Maybrit Illner” on Thursday evening. According to Andre Wastner, head of the German Armed Forces Association, it is crucial that the federal government invests heavily beyond the special fund. “I get a pulse there,” went on the colonel.

• Lars Klingbeil, leader of the SPD party
• Roderich Kieswetter (CDU), foreign politician
• Andre Wastner, President of the German Armed Forces Association
• Nicole Teitelhoff, Peace Researcher
• Wolfgang Ischinger, diplomat
• Alika Jung, ZDF reporter

This is due to a rumored statement by Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) that the Bundeswehr is currently not protected. Other high-ranking military officials confirmed the verdict, using terms like “ready for a museum” or “palliative medicine,” Wüstner said. However, the news has yet to reach many people in charge of the government, and the colonel complained that Pistorius was “captured”.

In view of the national security strategy, Wüstner called for massive investments beyond the special fund. Otherwise the breakthrough will “starve”. Hundreds of billions of euros have been saved in the Bundeswehr over the past decades. Not just to protect Germany. “We are talking here about the future of Europe’s defense architecture,” the colonel insisted, suggesting the construction of an ammunition factory.

Wolfgang Ischinger, former president of the Munich Security Conference and former ambassador to the United States, first coined the term “dirty ceasefire” in the “Maybrid Ilner” group. The Russian war of aggression will not end with a “good peace treaty,” the diplomat predicted: “That’s an illusion.” A ceasefire is more likely to be violated on a daily basis – as was the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“We are now entering a brutal phase. Brutal images will become even more brutal,” Wüstner warned, considering the Ukrainian counteroffensive. “People are being attacked while they sleep,” reported ZDF reporter Alika Jung, who linked from a street in Zaporizhia, about the Russian military’s increased attacks with drones and rockets. Moments later, the streetlight behind her went out.

But Ukraine also wants to take the war to Russia. Pistorius recently said in “Ilner” that it was “absolutely normal” for attackers to advance into enemy territory, for example to disrupt supplies. As long as no civilians are attacked, you have to accept that “it’s the most normal thing in the world.” But is Chancellor Olaf Schaalz (SPD) cool with the use of German weapons?

“I imagine the president will sit on television and say that a sudden attack of German weapons in Russia is all right,” the party leader replied. Shares Pistorius’s analysis. Nevertheless, there was potential for expansion here and Scholz assured that Germany would not become a party to the war.

“Germany could do more,” criticized peace researcher Nicole Teitelhoff, drawing mostly unanimous approval from the panel. For a professor of international relations at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, it’s not just about urgently needed ammunition supplies. In his view, the central government had so far failed to prepare the German people for the true costs of the war.

According to Deitelhoff, a large part of the public is under the impression that Ukraine will quickly regain lost territory through a counter-offensive, as “just wait and Ukraine will regain its sovereignty.” However, according to researchers, the war will last for years. Also, national security cannot be obtained “at no cost” as stated in the new strategy. Teitelhoff expects “massive changes” in families. You have to adjust people to that.