Germany should be mediator in Ukrainian conflict, research community says

German parliament

BERLIN, June 13. /TASS/: German researchers have demanded that the German government develop initiatives to mediate the Ukrainian conflict, the Tagesspiegel newspaper said on Tuesday.

The newspaper is referring to a report that was put together by the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Studies, the Development and Peace Institute at Duisburg-Essen University, the Bonn International Center for the Study of Conflict and the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. Its authors called on the German authorities to promptly establish an "international contact group to identify possible issues for negotiations" and to discuss them jointly with other governments. According to the researchers, it is also advisable to take into account proposals from "non-Western states, including China and Brazil."

According to the document, however, a halt of arms supplies to Kiev will lead to its military defeat. Therefore, peace talks "are not a realistic option for either Ukraine or Europe" at the moment, said Nicole Deitelhoff, a director at the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Researchers are concerned about the increasing number of nuclear warheads worldwide amid the cancellation of arms control agreements. According to Deitelhoff, the situation is "extremely dangerous."

"A new arms race must be prevented," she said.