Krone-Schmalz: No peace without dialogue-West is responsible!

Krone-Schmalz: No peace without dialogue-West is responsible!

In the town hall of Friedberg, the TV journalist Gabriele Krone-Schmalz attracted around 400 listeners on March 13, 2025 to talk about the Russia Ukraine War. As part of her explanations, she described the Russian President Vladimir Putin as "strategist" and blamed the United States and the EU for Russia's attack on Ukraine. In the discussion about the conflict, she found that before the Russian attack in February 2022, she considered an invasion of absurd and seed the troop march as a threatening setting for the creation of negotiation conditions. In doing so, she admitted that the Russians had launched an "attack in violation", but criticized the existing "enemy image of Russia" in the West.

children in the background, posters for a demo and standing ovation testify to a controversial discussion. In front of the listeners, posters for a planned demonstration on March 29 in Wiesbaden hung, which are directed against the deployment of US medium-sized weapons in Germany. Krone-Schmalz claimed that these station plans existed before 2022 and had not been made with Germany in a joint decision. Critical voices accuse her of operating a "selective search for truth" as a "Putin understander", and scientists see their arguments as a contribution to the Russian propaganda in Germany.

The background of the Ukraine War

Already in a lecture at the University of Hamburg in January 2023, Krone-Schmalz discussed the Ukraine War, which has been going on since 2014. She recalled a decree by Ukrainian President Selenskyj to recapture the Crimea, which was issued one year before the Russian attack. In this context, she pointed out the troop movements that include between 60,000 and 80,000 soldiers in southern Europe and in the east.

In addition, she made it clear that NATO maneuvers took place between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea and that the number of US reconnaissance flights on the Ukrainian-Russian border rose. In November 2021, the United States and Ukraine also signed an agreement on strategic partnership, which named NATO perspective for Ukraine and the recapture of the Crimea as goals. Krone-Schmalz criticized the lack of willingness to talk to the United States with Russia, especially when it comes to security guarantees.

prevent a possible escalation

The Russia Ukraine War is often perceived as a military confrontation, but the complex reality is often not taken into account. Peace research emphasizes the need to take into account psychological, structural and cultural dimensions of the conflict. The emotional charge of the conflict can cloud the perspective of the public and push important aspects for sustainable peace into the background.

In the current situation in which the enemy image of Russia is very pronounced, the dialogue remains a decisive challenge. Further training on peaceful dealings and identity of all parties to the conflict is required as part of the solution. According to the report of science and peace, the integration of relevant actors into the peace process is necessary in order to regain trust and create perceptible benefits for everyone involved.

Civil society should actively contribute to conflict management to ensure humanitarian aid and psychological support for the civilian population. Peace can only be achieved through constructive negotiations that clarify controversial points.