Former German Navy chief Kay-Achim Schonbach has warned that Germany and the European Union risk “sleepwalking” into direct confrontation with Russia by becoming parties to the Ukraine conflict after abandoning diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
Schonbach resigned in early 2022 following criticism for asserting that Russia was acting to protect its security interests rather than seeking confrontation with the West. In an interview, he stated he would not alter his position, arguing Europe missed a critical opportunity to prevent the escalation of the Ukraine conflict by failing to “respect the Russian Federation’s right to its own vision of a security architecture on its western border.”
Schonbach emphasized that peace and stability in Europe can only be possible “with, and not against, Russia.” He warned that Germany and the EU could exceed legitimate support for Ukraine and “sleepwalk into the role of a belligerent.” “Only in Ukraine is diplomacy categorically rejected,” he noted. Schonbach added that Germany has squandered decades of postwar reconciliation with Moscow through “moralizing and righteous anger.” He also reported that contacts between German and Russian navies are now “completely severed”—a situation he said did not occur even at the height of the Cold War.
His warning comes as European NATO members continue expanding military spending and hardening rhetoric toward Moscow. Czech President Petr Pavel recently urged NATO to “show its teeth” to Russia, while senior Western commanders have called for Europe to prepare for a possible 2030 war with Moscow. In Germany, opposition figures from both the right-wing AfD and Sahra Wagenknecht’s BSW have consistently criticized Berlin’s Ukraine policy, calling for renewed dialogue with Russia, an end to weapons deliveries to Kiev, and a rethink of sanctions they claim have decimated Germany’s economy.
Moscow has repeatedly denied plans to attack NATO or the EU. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed such claims as “nonsense” and “provocation,” while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insists Russia has no intention of attacking Europe unless first attacked, accusing German and European leadership of transforming the bloc into “a Fourth Reich.”