Chess champion Garry Kasparov is carefully focused on checkmating his opponent, Vladimir Putin.
Kasparov’s strategy is straightforward: Fully arm Ukraine so that it can defeat Russia on the battlefield. Such a triumph, argues Kasparov, will lead to “freedom for Russia” as the Putin Regime would not be able to absorb such a stunning loss.
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To abet that Ukrainian victory, Kasparov is now pushing Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz to answer for, what is in his view, Germany’s historic responsibility, to never again allow genocide, and to increase its arms supplies to Ukraine.
Aside from declining to send various types of weapons to Ukraine, Germany has placed restrictions on how some weapons can be used against Russia and has recently indicated that Berlin plans to decrease support for Ukraine.
The Renew Democracy Initiative, an organization chaired by Kasparov, on Tuesday, Aug. 20 launched its German Responsibility Campaign which kicked off with a full page ad in the German newspaper Bildt reading: “Germany once nearly led the world to destruction. Chancellor Scholz: Do not let it happen again. Give Ukraine the military aid that it really needs.”
The website for the campaign has an open letter from Kasparov that reads: “In the twentieth century, Germany brought immense suffering upon Europe. It is because of this history that Berlin has a special responsibility to prevent another such human tragedy.”
Ukrainian Naivety is Both Good and Bad
The strongly worded demand continues: “Russia’s unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine grinds on, it is time for Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz to step up and give Kyiv everything it needs to protect its citizens. There is no time like the present: Ukraine’s recent moves in the Kursk region – using German equipment – mark a significant but limited success,” reminding people that Ukraine’s offensive into Kursk demonstrates: “that the Ukrainians can win, but that they need Western support to reach the finish line.”
Kasparov, who has been outspoken in his support for Ukraine, traversing European capitals and Washington DC to round-up assistance for Kyiv, and who views history as being on his side sees not acting as not an option.
In response to recent news reports indicating that the German Government’s proposed budget, for next year, would include reduced assistance for Ukraine, Kasparov responds that, “Scholz shouldn’t just reverse his planned reduction in aid – he should increase Germany’s assistance to Ukraine.”
Importantly, the chess legend says, that Scholz “must give Ukraine the long-range systems it needs to stop Russian aggression at the source. This includes the coveted Taurus missile, which could take out the Kerch Bridge linking occupied Crimea with mainland Russia, decisively crippling the invaders’ supply lines and potentially shifting the tide of the war.”
To help achieve these objectives, Kasparov has started a petition to demand that Scholz act now to back Ukraine.
Speaking with Kyiv Post, Kasparov said that Germany, having provoked the Second World War that took millions of lives, is in no position to sit on the sidelines while “worrying about provoking Putin.” Rather, Germany’s historic responsibility is to back Ukraine with weapons that have no restrictions on how they are used against Russia.
In the eyes of Kasparov, the future of the world is at a crossroads. Should the West, most especially Berlin, fail to back Ukraine now, then “Moscow is allowed to swallow up all of Ukraine, then the front lines will not be in Kharkiv and Kherson, but in Vilnius, Warsaw, and perhaps even Berlin.”
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