Sunday, 9 April 2023

George Soros' Son Allegedly Has Steady White House Access

George Soros' Son Allegedly Has Steady White House Access

George Soros' Son Allegedly Has Steady White House Access




©Photo : Social media






In recent years, the Soros family has gained a lot of attention for their political activism and contribution to liberal causes. George Soros, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist, has long been a controversial figure in conservative circles due to his support for left-wing policies and candidates.







His son Alexander Soros has also become a prominent figure in left-leaning circles. According to recent reports, Alexander Soros has become a de-facto White House "ambassador," making at least 14 visits to the White House on behalf of his father's Open Society Foundations since President Joe Biden's inauguration.


At just 37 years old, Alexander Soros is already a prolific Democratic fundraiser and philanthropist in his own right, just like his well-known father. He is the chairman of the Open Society Foundations, which is one of the most powerful and influential liberal grant-making networks in the world. The organization was founded by George Soros in 1979, and it has since doled out more than $32 billion to support progressive causes across the globe.


Matt Palumbo, author of "The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros," argues that the younger Soros' access to top White House officials is indicative of the Soros family's growing influence over American politics.


"All throughout the White House, there is a Soros hold somewhere, and his son is his father's new ambassador," Palumbo told US media.


Despite the younger Soros' high-profile status in Democratic circles, his access to the White House has raised some eyebrows among conservative critics. According to records reviewed by US media, Alexander Soros scored at least a dozen meetings with White House officials:


  • 10/29/2021: Madeline Strasser, adviser to then-Chief of Staff Ron Klain

  • 12/15/2021: Jon Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor

  • 4/22/2022: Madeline Strasser, adviser to then-Chief of Staff Ron Klain

  • 9/14/2022: Nina Srivastava, adviser to then-Chief of Staff Ron Klain (x2)

  • 9/15/2022: Jon Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor

  • 10/6/2022: Jon Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor

  • 10/6/2022: Kimberly Lang, Executive Assistant to the National Security Advisor

  • 10/14/2022: Mariana Adame, Advisor to the Counselor Steve Ricchetti (x2)

  • 12/1/2022: Nina Srivastava, adviser to then-Chief of Staff Ron Klain

  • 12/1/2022: State Dinner on South Lawn for French President Emmanuel Macron attended by President Biden

  • 12/2/2022: Jon Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor

  • 12/2/2022: Mariana Adame, Advisor to the Counselor Steve Ricchetti







It's unclear what was discussed at these meetings, and the White House has not yet commented on Alexander Soros' visits. However, the mere fact that he has had so many meetings with top White House officials has led some conservative pundits to question whether the Soros family is exerting undue influence over the Biden administration.


Mike Howell, director of the Oversight Project at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, has called Alexander Soros' easy access to the White House "troubling," particularly given the Soros family's already existing political influence.


"The Soros agenda is one of death and destruction in the name of open borders and ending Western Civilization," Howell said in a statement. "The Biden administration and rogue prosecutor movement may be its most damaging purchase in America to date."


However, liberal commentators have pushed back against these criticisms, arguing that Alexander Soros' visits to the White House are simply part of his role as a major player in progressive politics.


Alexander Soros, the son of billionaire and longtime Democratic Party donor George Soros, has made at least fourteen visits to the White House since Joe Biden took office, according to publicly available visitor logs seen by the New York Post.


The younger Soros, 37, who is also a noted fundraiser on behalf of the Democratic Party, met with Biden administration officials a minimum of twelve times last year, according to recently updated logs. He also visited twice in 2021.


Alexander Soros is the chair of the liberal Open Society Foundations, whose remit, it says, is to provide grants to causes that promote “the growth of inclusive and vibrant democracies.”


His father George Soros set up the foundation, which has distributed more than $32 billion to various causes supporting liberal issues since 1998. He is a deeply controversial figure within some conservative sections in the US and abroad, who argue that his ‘philanthropy’ is merely political meddling.








“[He has done] tremendous damage to our country,” said Mike Howell of the Oversight Project at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, speaking of George Soros and published by the New York Post on Saturday. “The Soros agenda is one of death and destruction in the name of open borders and ending Western civilization.”


The nature of Alexander Soros’ White House visits include a meeting last December 1 with Nina Srivastava, the assistant of former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain. Later that same evening, Soros was among 330 attendees at a state dinner to honor French president Emmanuel Macron, records show.


A day later Soros junior met with Mariana Adame, who advises the counselor to President Joe Biden, as well as Deputy National Security Advisor Johnathan Finer, according to the logs. The content of the meetings remains unclear, and the White House did not respond to inquiries made by the New York Post.


“All throughout the White House, there is a Soros hold somewhere,” a critic of George Soros, Matt Palumbo, also told the Post. “[Alexander] is his father’s new ambassador.”


The elder Soros has again recently come under fire from right-wing critics recently after it was revealed he donated $1 million to a political action committee that later backed Alvin Bragg – the Manhattan DA pursuing a criminal conviction of Donald Trump. Soros denies directly funding Bragg or even knowing who he was.

















Large group of Ukrainian troops destroyed in LPR, Chechnya leader reports

Large group of Ukrainian troops destroyed in LPR, Chechnya leader reports

Large group of Ukrainian troops destroyed in LPR, Chechnya leader reports




Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov
©Elena Afonina/TASS, archive






Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reported the elimination of a large group of Ukrainian troops between the localities of Kremennaya and Belogorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), with a number of Ukrainians captured.







"The Akhmat special forces unit and fighters from the 4th brigade of the 2nd Army Corps commanded by dear brother Apty Alaudinov carried out a brilliant special operation between the localities of Kremennaya and Belogorovka. As a result, our fighters eliminated a large enemy group, taking some more [Ukrainian soldiers] prisoners," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.


According to Kadyrov, one of the POWs, a Ukrainian National Guard soldier, Maxim Nikhayenko, had his feet frostbitten and was given high-quality medical assistance by Russian medics who "put him on his feet."


"So far, fighters from the Akhmat special forces unit jointly with the 2nd Army Corps and the Russia Aerospace Forces have been very effective at conducting targeted special operations, making it possible to expand the pool of POWs and eliminate the fascist-NATO threat," the Chechen leader underscored.



Chechnya leader says Ukrainian offensive disrupted near Zaporozhye



A Chechen battalion disrupted an offensive by Ukrainian forces in the Zaporozhye direction, Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel.


"Under the competent leadership of... Deputy Commander-Chief of Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Vostok-Akhmat Battalion Vakha Khambulatov, our drones did a good job. They detected enemy offensives and adjusted mortar strikes. Mortar crews struck the Ukrainian and NATO infantry so effectively that they discouraged any attack on our positions," Kadyrov wrote.


According to him, the battalion destroyed two tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle. Kadyrov praised what he said were the battalion’s precise and well-coordinated actions that resulted in the elimination of armored vehicles and caused losses of Ukrainian troops.


The personnel of the battalion has thwarted an offensive in this area before, destroying 10 armored vehicles and enemy soldiers, the Chechen leader added.



Battlegroup East destroys Ukrainian recon team, drone in DPR



The Russian military disrupted three attempts by Ukrainian forces to carry out a reconnaissance mission in the South Donetsk direction, destroying a recon enemy group and a Valkyrie drone, Battlegroup East Spokesman Alexander Gordeyev told TASS.







"Three attempts by the enemy to conduct a reconnaissance mission were thwarted by Battlegroup East; also, a reconnaissance group was destroyed, and more than 20 militants were eliminated," he reported.


According to Gordeyev, an Osa-AKM missile system crew downed a Ukrainian Valkyrie drone. Besides, in the course of counter-battery fighting, two enemy howitzers were detected with automatic sound-ranging systems near Vodyanoye and Novopavlovka. The howitzers were destroyed by Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer crews.



MoD: Russian Forces Destroy Two Ukrainian Sabotage Groups



Russian service members have destroyed two enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the Kupyansk direction and thwarted three attempts of Ukrainian troop rotation, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik.


"During the day, in the Kupyansk direction, the military personnel … located and destroyed two enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups … and also thwarted three attempts to rotate the units of Ukrainian armed forces," the spokesperson said.


He added that Russian forces have also destroyed four Ukrainian drones near the villages of Vladimirovka, Stelmakhovka and Olshana.


Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine


On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, signed agreements on the accession of these territories to Russia, following referendums that showed that an overwhelming majority of the local population supported becoming part of Russia.


Western countries have significantly increased their economic and military support for Kiev, which now includes air defense and multiple rocket launching systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery, anti-aircraft guns, armored vehicles and various types of ammunition. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January that arms supplies to Ukraine by Western countries testify to their direct and growing involvement in the conflict.





















West unable to condemn terror attack against Russian war blogger — diplomat

West unable to condemn terror attack against Russian war blogger — diplomat

West unable to condemn terror attack against Russian war blogger — diplomat




Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
©Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS






Western countries could not bring themselves to condemn the terror attack on war reporter Vladlen Tatarsky [real name: Maxim Fomin], Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Saturday.







"Over six days that elapsed since the moment of the blast in that St. Petersburg cafe, not a single Western ‘champion’ of freedom of the media and the safety of journalists managed to utter even a word condemning this cruelty, horrendous by any human standards, nor expressed simple compassion for its victims," she noted.


The diplomat pointed out that, on the contrary, statements were made which can be described as the "public justification of terrorism," while Darya Trepova who is accused of the attack is being portrayed as a victim in the West.


"Liberal hypocrisy has turned the West’s policy into an assembly line of antihumanism. First, there was deliberate silence over the murders of Vladlen Tatarsky, Darya Dugina, Oleg Klokov and the next step is the justification of violence against ‘wrong’ journalists. From all appearances, they won’t stop there," Zakharova concluded.


Tatarsky was killed in an explosion during an event at a cafe on Universitetskaya Embankment in central St. Petersburg on April 2. Over 40 people were injured. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that the terror attack was plotted by Ukrainian special services. A farewell ceremony for Tatarsky was held at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow on Saturday.



The West sets a disturbing new precedent over murdered Russian military blogger



Apparently terrorism and murdering reporters get a free pass if the Western establishment doesn’t like the target’s profile – or if the perpetrator risks being linked to an ally. 


The radio silence from the West is deafening in the wake of the murder of military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky at a cafe in St. Petersburg. Tatarsky was killed after being handed a statue by a young woman, Darya Trepova, that subsequently blew up the entire venue.


For all of the Western officials’ differences with Russia, can they really not at least bring themselves to condemn a blatant act of terrorism in the middle of a major city center? We’re talking here about the same folks who spent two decades kicking down doors around the world under the guise of fighting a “Global War on Terrorism.”


Just a few years ago, cartoonists and writers for the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were gunned down in broad daylight at their Paris office by jihadists who objected to the publication’s portrayal of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. Western leaders roundly condemned that terrorist act, standing firmly on the principle that you couldn’t just go around murdering people who conveyed thoughts and views that you didn’t like. Many of these leaders even traveled to Paris to march alongside a massive crowd in defense of freedom of expression and the press.







Now, however, they can’t even bother to muster the most meager defense of the same principles in the wake of Tatarsky’s murder in an attack that investigators claim is linked to Ukraine.


It seems that whenever there’s any alleged involvement of Ukraine, the West conveniently turns a blind eye. The automobile explosion that killed Russian journalist and activist, Darya Dugina, near Moscow comes to mind. “American officials said they were not aware of the plan ahead of time for the attack that killed Daria Dugina and that they had admonished Ukraine over it,” reported the New York Times last October. Similarly, the Washington Post reported this week that the “unwritten rule” among Western officials is “don’t talk about Nord Stream” – the pipeline network carrying gas from Russia to Europe that was mysteriously blown up last year – since they “would rather not have to deal with the possibility that Ukraine or its allies were involved.”


Then there is the “Mirotvorets” list of journalists and activists maintained by Kiev-based NGO, the Mirotvorets Center, which names people “whose actions have signs of crimes against the national security of Ukraine, peace, human security, and the international law.” It has yet to either be shut down by the Ukrainian government or denounced by Western allies, despite a 2017 United Nations report on human rights in Ukraine urging Ukrainian authorities to address it.


Acts of terrorism and affronts to free speech are clearly in the eye of the Western beholder, which would explain why much of the media rhetoric focuses on Tatarsky’s pro-Russia stance. The void left by the lack of official reaction from Western officials is being filled with Western press articles focusing on the Ukrainian-born blogger’s prior involvement with Russian-backed separatist forces in 2014 in the Donbass. There, he got his start in covering events through his Telegram channel, which grew to become wildly popular, with CNN noting his “ardent pro-war commentary.” But if prior military experience of some kind, and taking sides in one’s coverage of armed conflict, was justification for murdering journalists, then every Western veteran who started a blog, and every opinion journalist, would be fair game.


There was no shortage of Western outrage over the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi embassy in Istanbul a few years ago, despite his longstanding activism against the Saudi leadership. Why should the death of this Russian blogger be treated any differently?


Bulgarian investigative journalist, Cristo Grozev, who was heavily featured in the Academy Award-winning feature documentary film about Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, apparently thinks that some people are just “legitimate targets” for terrorism, and argues that the cafe may not have been a “purely civilian location.” Although it was previously owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russian private military enterprise, Wagner Group, that doesn’t magically transform a dining establishment, which welcomes anyone right off the street in the middle of a major city, into some kind of a military base. If an American general walks into the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Pentagon City, Virginia, it doesn’t suddenly turn the hotel or its bar into a legitimate military target for bombing by some entity that has a score to settle with Washington.


And what about every journalist who has been embedded as the guest of Western troops in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan and has promoted the talking points of their hosts while siding with their own country? Are they fair game for picking off now, too?


The prominent Washington Institute for the Study of War think tank, whose board members include American generals Jack Keane and David Petraeus, as well as Washington’s former ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, previously and routinely qualified Tatarsky as a prominent Russian military blogger whose work they apparently considered worthy of informing their research.









It seems like there’s an effort underway by some members of the Western establishment to reframe this egregious act of terrorism and murder as something trivial, all because the target was a Russian whose views they don’t like – and that’s an awfully slippery slope.



Hundreds of Russians attend war-blogger Vladlen Tatarsky funeral



Hundreds gathered for the funeral of high-profile Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in Moscow after he was killed in a bomb attack in Saint Petersburg.


Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday after a woman handed him a bust that later exploded in a cafe, wounding more than 40 people.


Russian authorities say the attack was orchestrated by Ukraine with help from supporters of jailed critic Alexey Navalny.


Mourners, some carrying flowers, gathered at the prestigious Troyekurovskoye cemetery in western Moscow with a heightened police presence.


Some supporters wore the letters Z and V – symbols of Moscow’s assault on Ukraine – on their clothes. Carrying lit candles, priests in white robes led a funeral service at the cemetery.


















No illegal fentanyl trafficking problem between China and Mexico, channel for drug control cooperation open: Chinese FM

No illegal fentanyl trafficking problem between China and Mexico, channel for drug control cooperation open: Chinese FM

No illegal fentanyl trafficking problem between China and Mexico, channel for drug control cooperation open: Chinese FM




FILE - Packets of fentanyl and methamphetamine, seized from a truck crossing into Arizona from Mexico, displayed at the Port of Nogales, Arizona, Jan. 31, 2019. (Courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Handout via Reuters)






There is no so-called illicit fentanyl trafficking problem between China and Mexico, and the channels for bilateral drug control cooperation between the two countries are open, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Thursday, when she was commenting on the news that Mexico asked China for help on fentanyl.







According to Mao, the authorities of both sides maintain good communication and the Chinese side did not receive any notification from the Mexican side about the the seizure of scheduled fentanyl precursors from China.


The Chinese government takes a firm stance on counternarcotics. As early as 2019, China categorized and controlled fentanyl substances, and the controlled varieties far exceeded the scope of the International Drug Control Conventions, making China the first country in the world to categorize and control fentanyl substances, Mao said.


China has been playing a responsible role as a major country in responding to the global drug problem. It is willing to vigorously carry out international drug law enforcement cooperation within the framework of the International Drug Control Conventions, including strengthening bilateral counternarcotics cooperation with other countries including Mexico, and continuing to contribute to global counternarcotics governance, Mao said.


Mao noted that as the country with the most prominent problem of fentanyl abuse in the world, the US has not yet officially scheduled fentanyl-related substances as a class. The problem of fentanyl abuse in the US has become even worse, with the number of deaths constantly rising.


Mao pointed out that the root cause of the fentanyl abuse problem in the US lies within the country itself. The US should face its own problems and take more concrete measures to strengthen domestic regulation and reduce demand, Mao said.


Mao added that China firmly supports Mexico's efforts to uphold independence and oppose foreign interference, and calls on relevant countries to stop hegemonic practices against Mexico.



Mexican president bemoans ‘rude’ US fentanyl pressure in plea to Xi Jinping



Mexico’s president has written to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, urging him to help control shipments of fentanyl, while also complaining of “rude” US pressure to curb the drug trade.


President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has previously said that fentanyl is the US’s problem and is caused by “a lack of hugs” in US families. On Tuesday he read out the letter to Xi dated 22 March in which he defended efforts to curb supply of the deadly drug, while rounding on US critics.







López Obrador complained about calls in the US to designate Mexican drug gangs as terrorist organisations. Some Republicans have said they favour using the US military to crack down on Mexican cartels.


“Unjustly, they are blaming us for problems that in large measure have to do with their loss of values, their welfare crisis,” López Obrador wrote to Xi in the letter.


“These positions are in themselves a lack of respect and a threat to our sovereignty, and moreover they are based on an absurd, manipulative, propagandistic and demagogic attitude.”


Only after several paragraphs of venting, López Obrador brings up China’s exports of fentanyl precursors, and asked him to help stop shipments of chemicals that Mexican cartels import from China.


“I write to you, President Xi Jinping, not to ask your help on these rude threats, but to ask you for humanitarian reasons to help us by controlling the shipments of fentanyl,” the Mexican president wrote.


China has taken some steps to limit fentanyl exports, but mislabelled or harder-to-detect precursor chemicals continue to pour out of Chinese factories.


China has taken some steps to limit fentanyl exports, but mislabelled or harder-to-detect precursor chemicals continue to pour out of Chinese factories.



GRAHAM SAYS ‘AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK’ FROM MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS: ‘WE NEED TO BE AT WAR WITH THEM’



  The fentanyl crisis has been at the center of a growing diplomatic dispute between the U.S. and Mexico as lawmakers in the U.S. have been pushing for a more aggressive approach toward the southern neighbor and the cartels within.








Attorney General Merrick Garland has said Mexico could be doing more to help the U.S. tackle the crisis, which he said is being "unleashed on purpose" by the cartels.


Republicans have called for the cartels to be branded Foreign Terrorist Organizations and have even suggested the military be used to take out the cartels’ drug labs.


"We're going to unleash the fury and might of the United States against these cartels," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. told reporters last month. "We're going to destroy their business model and their lifestyle because our national security and the security of the United States as a whole depends on us taking decisive action."


Graham's remarks and similar ones from other lawmakers sparked a furious response from Lopez Obrador, who threatened to meddle in U.S. elections with an "information campaign" against Republicans.


He has also lashed out at a State Department report which criticized the government’s human rights records. He accused the U.S. of "lying" and trying to act like "the government of the world."


On Tuesday, much of Lopez Obrador’s letter consisted of thinly-veiled swiping at the U.S. and blaming the northern neighbor for the crisis. He has previously attributed the crisis to a "lack of hugs" in the U.S., rather than the murderous cartels that have continued to flourish under his presidency.


"Unjustly, they are blaming us for problems that in large measure have to do with their loss of values, their welfare crisis," López Obrador wrote. "These positions are in themselves a lack of respect and a threat to our sovereignty, and moreover they are based on an absurd, manipulative, propagandistic and demagogic attitude."
















Muslim-majority nations skeptical of US intentions: Gallup

Muslim-majority nations skeptical of US intentions: Gallup

Muslim-majority nations skeptical of US intentions: Gallup




US troops enter central Baghdad and topple statue of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003 In Baghdad, Iraq © Getty Images / Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images






A large percentage of people in 11 Muslim-majority nations, and two others in the region, disagree that the United States is serious about democracy, according to a new poll released by Gallup.







In addition, most don’t believe the U.S. will be able allow them to fashion their own political future.


It’s been 20 years since the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and despite the overwhelming favorability the U.S. received from the Iraqi people after toppling Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in 2003, it has been difficult for America to establish the democracy they hoped for in Iraq.


Fast forward to today, and a little less than a third of Iraqi’s — around 26 percent — believe the U.S. is serious about establishing democratic commitments in the Middle East, while 72 percent doubt the U.S.’s intentions, the poll found.


The highest percentage of disagreement, 81 percent, comes from Iran.


The survey found that Tunisia, Turkey, Palestinian Territories and Iraq round out the top five, all falling between 78 and 75 percent. Yemen, Pakistan, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan follow, with 68 to 61 percent disagreement.


Jordan — at 33 percent — is the country that views the U.S. as the most serious about democracy in the region, according to the poll.


In terms of perceptions about the United States’ commitment to letting Middle Eastern countries determine their own future, all 12 of the countries surveyed disagree that the U.S. will let that happen — with the highest percent of disagreement, 80, coming from Iran.







Turkey, Tunisia, the Palestinian Territories and Iraq followed with disagreement between 78 and 71 percent.


The three countries with the least amount of disagreement almost mirrored the first question, with 59 percent from those in Libya and Jordan. Kuwait followed with 42 percent disagreement, and then Morocco with 35 percent.


Finally, the new poll asked 13 nations in the region about the United States’ commitment to improving the economic wellbeing of their people and once again, all of the countries had a majority of those surveyed disagree.


The highest amounts of disagreements came from Iran, Turkey, and Tunisia — with percentages from 82 to 74. The least amount of disagreement on this question came from Kuwait at 41 percent and Morocco at 34 percent.






















Saturday, 8 April 2023

Rally against arms supplies to Kiev held before Easter in Berlin

Rally against arms supplies to Kiev held before Easter in Berlin

Rally against arms supplies to Kiev held before Easter in Berlin




©Kristina Zorkina/TASS






Thousands are peacefully protesting ahead of Easter in Berlin, calling for halting arms supplies to Kiev and starting peace negotiations in Ukraine, an RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Saturday.







Easter marches are a practiced tradition in Germany, with this year's weekend peace demonstrations expected to be held in over 120 cities across the country.


The organizer of the Berlin march, Netzwerk Friedenskooperative (Peace Cooperation Network), estimated that up to 3,000 people took part in the march, which began at Berlin's central quarter of Wedding.




The participants can be seen carrying flags depicting the dove of peace, as well as banners that read "US and NATO Get Out of Ukraine," "Diplomacy, Not Arms," "Against Pointless Sanctions, Cheap Energy Now," "Tanks Never Bring Peace," as well as other slogans against Europe's dependence on the United States.


A performer sang a pacifist song in Russian, Yiddish, and German; some called for peace negotiations in Ukraine from a mobile stage before the beginning of the procession. "Stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, it only escalates and prolongs the conflict," one of the speakers said, stressing that Russia's security interests should be respected given NATO's weaponization and its expansion.




Pro-Ukrainian activists attempted to disrupt the Easter march but could not shut down the event.


In the march's announcement, the organizers call against delivering weapons to Ukraine, deploying nuclear weapons at the Ramstein air base, and Russian sanctions, which, as organizers say, backfired on Germany itself. They also urge the German authorities to facilitate peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, as well as to create Europe's security architecture "from Lisbon to Vladivostok."


They argued that the German authorities to facilitate peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, as well as build Europe's security architecture "from Lisbon to Vladivostok."







Earlier last month, Germans took to the streets of Berlin on Sunday to protest against ongoing military support to Ukraine, calling on their government to engage in dialogue with Russia to achieve peace.


The demonstrators held banners saying, "You don't defend freedom with war," "Peace now! Without weapons!”, and "Diplomats instead of grenades".


"They must negotiate diplomatically; they must negotiate honestly with compromises from both sides. That is the case if you want peace,” one protester said.


“You do not send weapons in this case to kill people. People are being killed any moment here - well, not here, but there, with the weapons that are being funded here. And I am ashamed of that."


More than 250,000 people signed a petition in February, calling on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop increasing arms supplies to Ukraine and initiate peace talks on the issue, data on the change.org petition website showed.


The petition titled "Manifest for Peace" was launched on the change.org portal by Sahra Wagenknecht, a German lawmaker from The Left Party, and prominent German feminist journalist Alice Schwarzer on Friday. "A quarter of a million supporters have already signed the Manifest for Peace. Pressure from our side can lead to results!" Wagenknecht wrote on Twitter.