The AfD’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag plans to organize a “trilateral summit” in Abu Dhabi next spring with representatives of the United States and Russia. The talks would focus on the war in Ukraine, although representatives of Ukraine would not be included. The party’s foreign-policy representatives say they aim to engage with the two major powers at the level of special advisers.
AfD foreign-policy spokesman Markus Frohnmaier said in Berlin that Russian presidential adviser Kirill Dmitriev had already announced the proposed meeting publicly. Frohnmaier presented two policy papers alongside Gerold Otten and Stefan Keuter, covering German-American relations and the party’s position on German-Russian relations and the war in Ukraine.
The documents describe the war as a tragedy that should end as soon as possible, but offer little criticism of the Russian government. The AfD proposes a fundamental change in German Ukraine policy, including support for Russia’s return to the G7, the lifting of sanctions and the resumption of Russian energy imports. The papers do not set out conditions for these measures.
The party also wants Germany to end all financial support for Ukraine apart from humanitarian assistance. At the same time, the AfD describes German aid as leverage to pressure the Ukrainian government into taking part in serious peace negotiations with Russia. Frohnmaier said cutting funds could prompt Kyiv to reconsider its position.
The policy papers state that Germany should prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union and NATO. They also propose that Germany secure rare earths, gas and other Ukrainian resources as compensation for previous aid, following what the document calls the US model.
The AfD presents the United States primarily as a partner in preserving Europe as a Western cultural sphere. It supports NATO and wants to further develop the alliance with Washington. The party welcomes a reduction in US troops stationed in Germany if it is offset by an expansion of German forces.
However, the documents do not address US tariff policy, despite previous disagreements on the issue between AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. Keuter said the papers were “metapolitical” and were not intended to focus on specific tariff rates. The planned documents also avoid taking a position on the war involving Iran. Frohnmaier said the party was preparing a separate paper on Iran policy and maintained that the AfD opposed the US intervention there.
Frohnmaier did not specify what share of Germany’s federal budget the AfD would allocate to NATO. He said spending would have to reflect the country’s financial capacity and that a precise figure could not yet be given before the state of the Bundeswehr had been examined more closely.
During the press conference, Keuter said the AfD had very good contacts with the governments of both the United States and Russia, as well as with intelligence services linked to them. Asked whether this included regular exchanges with Russian intelligence officials, he said the party was in contact with all relevant partners but did not provide further details.
Sources: FAZ.