Those who shunned talks with Moscow now praise Trump’s diplomacy, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel has said
A German opposition leader has accused the EU of hypocrisy, pointing out that those who once rejected dialogue with Moscow are now praising US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts to settle the Ukraine conflict.
Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, made the remarks after a White House meeting earlier this week involving Trump, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, and key Western European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The talks came two days after a summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The same people who for three and a half years denounced diplomacy as the devil’s work are now praising Trump for his diplomatic efforts,” Weidel wrote on X. “That is hypocrisy and an admission of their own failure at the same time.”
She added: “What Trump has set in motion, responsible European and especially German politicians should have undertaken long ago: namely, establishing lines of communication with Russia to explore possibilities for ending the war.”
Following the Washington talks, the White House said a peace deal had become more feasible, describing the outcome as progress and “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Trump rejected calls by Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron for a ceasefire as a first step toward resolution, insisting on a permanent peace. Moscow has long opposed the idea of a temporary truce, arguing that Kiev would simply use the pause to regroup and rearm.
Merz, who has taken a hard line against Russia since taking office in May, previously declared that diplomatic options had been “exhausted” and doubled down on providing weapons to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused him of abandoning diplomacy in favor of escalation.
Moscow has long accused the EU and the UK of hostility, citing Russophobia and militarization, and says Western support for Ukraine only prolongs the conflict.
The chancellor has not ruled out dispatching German soldiers to Ukraine under potential security guarantees. Russia has warned any NATO or Western presence on Ukrainian territory would be “unacceptable.”
Merz has faced a sharp drop in public support and his coalition is polling at its lowest levels since taking office. The right-wing AfD has overtaken conservatives as Germany’s most popular party, a survey showed this month.
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