Roderich Kiesewetter, the CDU foreign policy spokesman, sharply denounced President Donald Trump’s so‑called “Peace Council” during an interview with the television channel “Welt” on Thursday. He said the initiative represents a humiliation-and a discreditation-of the United Nations.
Kiesewetter added that the council gathers states with questionable domestic policies, especially concerning minorities and human rights, naming Belarus and Azerbaijan as examples. “We are witnessing the erosion of the rule‑based order” he said. “Trump fills the void with the law of the stronger or whatever he wants to impose on the world. It’s bitter, and the whole affair looks grotesque: the leader of the Western world is no longer”.
He urged the EU-and Germany in particular-to focus on its own security, economy, and unity, citing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Otherwise we will be shredded” Kiesewetter warned.
Kiesewetter acknowledged that the UN is already partially crippled, but said a weak UN was exactly what Trump desired. He pointed out that the U.N. Security Council remains paralyzed, a reality he described as “true”. Trump’s invitation to Russia and Belarus to join the Peace Council was another point of criticism. “Those are countries that pressure Ukraine heavily, deny its right to exist, and want to absorb that state” the politician said.
According to Kiesewetter, Trump systematically weakened the United Nations over the years by cutting funding and withdrawing from dozens of international organisations that cooperate with the U.N. He also largely dismantled USAID, creating a rival structure that sends the impression that the U.N. can no longer be trusted.
He pressed the EU and Germany to stand up for smaller states. “What can weaker countries rely on? They need rule‑based order, not the law of the stronger” he stated. “We must recognise that as Europeans we have to be the voice for states that seek predictability, not the unpredictability of Trump’s approach”.