ARD Talk: Hard but fair: “War is ended on the battlefield”

Moderator Louis Klamroth lost control of the ongoing discussion several times on Monday evening, so bitterly did his invited guests defend their respective positions. While that wasn’t a surprise given the emotional subject matter, it made it harder for viewers to follow the arguments. So what was it about? Almost a year after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, “Hart aber fair” discussed whether Germany could do more arms to Ukraine should deliver to restore peace.

“Hard but fair”: These guests were there on Monday

“We have not managed to end the war and that should be the goal,” said Amira Mohamed Ali. The parliamentary group leader of the Left campaigned loudly for one diplomatic offensive Germany and against further arms deliveries. She emphasized that there was a good reason why Germany had not delivered weapons to crisis and war zones before the war of aggression against Ukraine. She has the impression that the search for diplomatic peace has receded into the distant future in recent months. A view with which the politician is not alone: ​​Around 58 percent of Germans do not go far enough in diplomatic efforts to end the war. In the discussions about further arms deliveries, Ali sees one thing above all: an increase in brutality.

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That’s also why she got the petition from her party colleague Sarah Wagenknecht signed, which speaks out against arms deliveries to Ukraine and urges the start of peace negotiations. A request that leaves the people of Ukraine stunned, as Ukraine correspondent Vassili Golod reported.

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Dispute in “Hart but fair” about arms deliveries: “It’s about the survival of Ukraine”

Especially with Katarina Barley, the current Vice-President of the EU Parliament, Ali engaged in an intense exchange of blows. Unlike her colleague, Barley sees it as a “moral obligation to help Ukraine defend itself,” something she says cannot be done without arms shipments. “Putin did not start the war to negotiate a ceasefire and withdraw,” she stressed on the show. “He started the war to erase the identity of the Ukrainian people.”

An important sentence, that too Hans-Lothar Domröse emphasized. The core of the arms deliveries is “about the survival of Ukraine,” said the ex-NATO general. He assumes that Russia is currently preparing an enormous offensive. In order for Ukraine to be able to defend itself properly, fighter jets are enormously important. A debate that is hotly debated in the German media landscape and to which the former Ukrainian Foreign Minister also spoke on the show Andriy Melnyk expressed. He urged a decision: “The longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to liberate the occupied territories. Whether we want it or not, this war can only be ended on the battlefield.” At the same time, he emphasized that Ukraine is only demanding what Germany would not make a war party.

Wild babble of voices – Klamroth cannot mediate

So either or? The freelance journalist adopted a more moderate tone Gesine Dornbluth to: “Democracy and arms deliveries do not contradict each other, they must complement each other.” In view of the current situation, however, she also supports Germany’s agreed arms deliveries: “Arms deliveries are not automatically the reason why Russia sends more tanks. Russia would do that even without German arms deliveries.”

It’s no surprise that this edition of “Hard but fair” could not find a final answer. It was a pity, however, that the discussions sometimes got so heated that only a wild babble of voices reached the viewers, which even moderator Klamroth was unable to settle.

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For the edition of “Hart aber fair” in the ARD media library.

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