Leading populist lawmakers in Germany, from both the left and right, have demanded consequences for Kyiv over Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, including reparations and the cessation of arms deliveries.
Last week, it was reported that German authorities had issued an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian citizen for alleged involvement in the 2022 sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines owned jointly by Russia and Germany.
This was followed by a report from the Wall Street Journal, which claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially approved the plot to attack the pipelines but had ordered the plan to be scrapped after the CIA got wind of the plot. However, according to the paper, Zelensky’s then-commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhniy, continued on with the plan anyway.
Following the reports of the Ukrainian government’s alleged involvement in the attack on critical German infrastructure and energy security, there have been growing calls for Berlin to punish Kyiv.
Suggesting that Ukraine should pay reparations to Germany, parliamentarian and co-chairwoman of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, wrote on Friday: “The economic damage to our country caused by the demolition of Nord Stream, presumably ordered by Zelensky—and not Putin as we were led to believe–should be ‘billed’ to Ukraine.”
Weidel added that any “aid payments” paid for by the German taxpayer “should be stopped.”
The demands to punish Ukraine over its alleged involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines did not only come from the right, with Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of the Bundestag parliament in Berlin and leader of the left-wing populist BSW party, also calling for stern repercussions against Kyiv.
“If Ukraine was involved in the attack on Nord Stream, the [traffic light government] must draw consequences and stop arms deliveries immediately. It is outrageous that the federal government is not making any effort to address the revelations and is even withholding information,” Wagenknecht said.
Over the weekend, the former leader of The Left party also called for the formation of a committee in the Bundestag to investigate what role the German government played during the attack and specifically whether Berlin had any advance knowledge of the plot.
“If it turns out that German authorities knew about the attack plan in advance, then we would have a scandal of the century in German politics,” Wagenknecht said according to broadcaster ZDF.
While criticising the government for failing to inform the public about the situation, the leftist populist leader said that the sabotage of the pipelines was a “terrorist attack on our energy supply.”
Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security has denied that Kyiv had any involvement in the attack on Nord Stream, stating: “Versions in the media about the alleged involvement of Ukraine are based on dubious anonymous sources and are unrealistic from a technical standpoint.”
The state media organisation said that Russia was better positioned to launch the attack and claimed that reports indicating Ukrainian involvement were “synchronised with attempts to weaken international support for our country.”
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