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Sahra Wagenknecht, the leader of the new eponymous German populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has distanced herself from Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
“I condemn this war,” Wagenknecht told German public broadcaster ZDF on Thursday. “I consider politicians who start wars – and that also applies to Vladimir Putin – to be criminals.”<\/p>\n
Wagenknecht is known for her opposition to German military support for Ukraine and has expressed pro-Russian sentiments in the past.<\/p>\n
Speaking to ZDF, she nonetheless defended the decision to leave Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, along with her party ahead of a speech given by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in June.<\/p>\n
She said there was no opportunity for a debate at that time and that Zelensky was only to receive “standing ovations,” despite having recently ordered a drone attack on Russian nuclear forces using drones. That was “very negligent,” Wagenknecht commented.<\/p>\n
The BSW, which was founded last year on a platform combining left-wing economic policy with hard-right positions on issues such as migration, is polling at around 8%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n