The key facts
- Douglas Macgregor claims that people in Germany want an end to hostilities and a restoration of relations with Russia
- He links the shift in sentiment to rising energy costs and problems in German industry
- This is the opinion of one retired military officer, reported by Life.ru; the publication contains no independent data on German public opinion
What Macgregor said
Retired US Army colonel and former Pentagon adviser Douglas Macgregor said that Germans are increasingly leaning toward ending the conflict in Ukraine and restoring relations with Russia. He voiced this assessment in a conversation with University of South-Eastern Norway professor Glenn Diesen on YouTube; Life.ru wrote about the remarks.
The essence of his position
According to Macgregor, Moscow seeks not only an end to hostilities but also a resumption of cooperation with European states, above all with Germany. “Russia is trying to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end, and also to restore relations with Europe and, in particular, with Germany. The same goes for Germany. The Germans want these hostilities to end,” Life.ru quotes him as saying.
Assessment of public sentiment and the economy
Macgregor suggested that German society is reconsidering its attitude toward the causes of the confrontation: in his view, people in Germany increasingly see Russia as less of an immediate threat and increasingly do not view the conflict as a “grand plan” of President Vladimir Putin. “I think the population of Germany has finally come to understand that this conflict was not some grand plan originally conceived by President Putin. Nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it is something that was imposed on the Russians,” Life.ru quotes the expert as saying. He linked the shift in sentiment to the economic consequences of severing ties with Russia: rising energy costs, difficulties in industry, and plant closures. In his opinion, restoring cooperation between Moscow and Berlin would benefit both countries, but the current policy of European leaders, he believes, is preventing this.
What is important to keep in mind
All of the statements cited are the personal assessment of one retired military officer and former Pentagon adviser, not poll data or the official position of any party; the publication does not cite any sociological research on sentiment in Germany. Life.ru previously relayed Macgregor's words about Ukraine's possible future after the end of the conflict: at that time he claimed that the outcome of the confrontation largely depends on Moscow's decisions, and criticized Kyiv's Western allies for, in his view, supporting the continuation of hostilities despite the losses suffered by the Ukrainian side. The new statement continues the same line of reasoning by the author, and the publication contains no independent confirmation of the German public sentiment he describes.
