The United States has not yet begun withdrawing from Germany, yet the first public voices are already emerging in Berlin calling for the initiation of talks with Russia. Rolf Mützenich, former chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, has explicitly advocated launching disarmament negotiations with Moscow in light of the planned reduction of the American military presence in Europe.
In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mützenich stated that it is currently crucial to demand the “withdrawal of Russian intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles from Belarus and Kaliningrad.” Further steps, he added, could be “incorporated into a comprehensive arms control process.”
According to the German daily Welt, Mützenich also pointed in particular to the United States’ decision to forgo the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Germany.
The disarmament initiative he supports, the SPD politician argued, would allow Europe to “regain a role it has held in the past, one based on deterrence and effective diplomacy.”
However, security expert Nico Lange proposes a different strategy.
“If American missiles are not available, we need German or European systems, at the very least long-range capabilities independent of U.S. decisions, to ensure conventional deterrence,”
he also told Süddeutsche Zeitung.
As he emphasized, it has been known since 2018 that Russian Iskander missiles are stationed in Kaliningrad and pose a threat.
“If American missiles are not deployed now, the deterrence gap will remain, and Russia, through its missiles in Kaliningrad, could potentially gain leverage over us, leaving us vulnerable to coercion,”
he stressed.