Sputnik
Thousands rallied near Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate on Saturday to demand that Germany help bring a peace process forward between Ukraine and Russia, instead of funneling deadly weapons to Kiev.
The "Peace Rally" was organized by the left-wing Die Linke party, which estimated attendance at more than 50,000. Protesters were seen waving peace flags and holding up placards that read, "Make Peace, Without Weapons" and "Diplomacy Instead of Arms Deliveries."
Sahra Wagenknecht, a lawmaker from Die Linke who called the rally, accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a speech of allowing Germany to be dragged deeper and deeper into the Ukrainian conflict.
"We do not feel represented by a chancellor who… repeatedly bows down to warmongers in his coalition and crosses one red line after another… We do not want German tanks to shoot at grandchildren of Russian women and men, millions of whom were slaughtered by the Wehrmacht," she said.
She also criticized defense industry lobbyists in the government and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, whom she accused of "trampling on the international arena like a bull in a china shop" and having "so little control over what she says publicly that she has mistakenly declared a war on Russia."
In the protest's manifesto, the left party demanded that Chancellor Scholz "stop the escalation of weapons deliveries" and focus instead on promoting a ceasefire and peace negotiations to avoid a third world war. A petition launched by Wagenknecht on change.org website this month has been signed by almost 650,000 people.
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