Thousands protest in Berlin over arming Ukraine against Russia

Over 10,000 protesters in Germany called for an end to the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine on Saturday, and urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to lead diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire and peace negotiations.

Organized by Sahra Wagenknecht, a prominent left-wing German politician, the protest came a day after the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which drew promises of more weapons from Western allies, fresh sanctions against Russia and shows of support for Kyiv from across the globe.

A police spokesperson said 10,000 people gathered around Germany's symbolic Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, and 1,400 officials were mobilized to keep the peace and to enforce bans on military uniforms, Russian and Soviet flags, Russian military songs and right-wing symbols.

The police spokesperson said there was no sign of right-wing groups attending and that the protest was peaceful.

"We call on the German chancellor to stop the escalation of arms deliveries. Now!...Because every day lost costs up to 1,000 more lives, and brings us closer to a 3rd World War," the protest's organizers said on their website.

The organizer initiated a petition two weeks ago, calling for negotiation and peace. It has gathered 607,000 signatures as of Thursday on the change.org website. Gunter Verheugen, the former vice president of the European Commission, and Erich Vad, a former brigadier general, were among the first signatories. 

The petition said that Ukraine can win individual battles with support by the West, but it can't defeat the world's largest nuclear power, neither side can win militarily and the conflict can only end by negotiation, which doesn't mean "surrendering," but "making compromises on both sides with the aim of preventing hundreds of thousands more deaths and worse."

Germany, along with the U.S., has been one of the biggest suppliers of weapons for Ukraine. According to Scholz on Thursday, German aid to Ukraine, for financial and humanitarian support as well as weapons, had totaled more than 14 billion euros ($14.83 billion) so far. And according to Statista, the U.S. had already provided $46.6 billion financial aid for military purposes to Ukraine as of January 15.

(With input from Reuters)