This statement was originally posted on TikTok. Within a few hours after its publication, it has been viewed more than 15,000 times and received more than 1,200 likes, reflecting the growing opposition against the reckless escalation of the NATO war against Russia by the major imperialist powers. We are publishing here the full English text of the statement and a repost on TikTok with English subtitles.

When [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz, [defence minister Boris] Pistorius, [economy minister] Habeck and co. announce the stationing of long-range US precision weapons, including hypersonic weapons, in Germany in the name of alleged “deterrence” or “self-defence” against Russia, this is nothing but propaganda. In reality, the deployment serves the purpose of direct military strikes against Moscow.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) and the World Socialist Web Site strongly condemn this escalation, which threatens the danger of a nuclear confrontation.

The entire NATO summit in Washington ushers in a new dangerous phase in the Ukraine war. NATO is now openly a party to the war. Among other things, the military alliance announced the creation of an office in Ukraine and the establishment of a NATO command in Germany to coordinate the war offensive against Russia.

These decisions leave no doubt that the leading imperialist powers are preparing a direct war against Russia.

According to media reports, the Tomahawk cruise missiles to be stationed in Germany have a range of over 2,000 kilometres and can therefore reach targets far into the Russian heartland. The distance between Berlin and Moscow is just under 1,600 kilometres as the crow flies.

The hypersonic weapons even have a range of 1,725 miles—almost 2,800 kilometres—and are capable of evading Russian missile defence systems.

In addition to the deployments of US missiles, the European NATO powers, led by Germany, are planning to develop their own long-range precision weapons. On Thursday, the defence ministers of Germany, France, Italy and Poland signed a declaration of intent to this effect in Washington.

German imperialism, which already attempted to subjugate Russia in both world wars of the 20th century, committing terrible crimes in the process, is once again at the forefront of the escalation of war. Systems were needed that also “make it clear to a potential Russian aggressor that we are able and willing to defend ourselves,” said Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democrat, SPD) and threatened: “Any strike against us will also be answered—and conventionally.”

In fact, the NATO powers are the main aggressors: who do not want peace, but war. By systematically encircling Russia, they provoked the Putin regime’s reactionary intervention in Ukraine in the first place. Now they are pushing the conflict to extremes in order to militarily defeat and subjugate the country, which is rich in raw materials. This threatens the danger of a devastating war between nuclear powers.

In an interview with Der Spiegel in the spring of 2022, Chancellor Scholz responded to a question about the delivery of “heavy weapons” to Kiev by saying that everything must be done “to avoid a direct military confrontation between NATO and a highly armed superpower like Russia, a nuclear power.” The aim was to “prevent an escalation that would lead to a third world war.”

Now, the German government is not only supplying “heavy weapons”—including hundreds of heavy battle tanks—but is also planning direct military strikes against Russia.

There are objective driving forces behind this madness. As in the 1930s, when the ruling class brought Hitler and the Nazis to power in order to make Germany “fit for war,” it is reacting today to the deep crisis of the capitalist system and the growing resistance among the population by turning to militarism, fascism and world war. And in doing so, it is returning to its genocidal traditions, as the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza supported by Germany shows.

This development must be stopped before those in power plunge the world even further into the abyss and destroy the planet.

The fight against war must also be directed against the Putin regime, which does not represent the interests of Russian workers, but those of the Russian oligarchy, which was created by the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy. The Kremlin’s announcement that it will also respond to NATO’s threats by deploying its own missiles only increases the danger of a catastrophic nuclear conflagration.

There is only one way to prevent a third world war: to build an independent anti-war movement of the international working class that eliminates the cause of war—capitalism—and builds a global socialist society. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei is fighting to mobilise the widespread opposition in the working class on this international socialist basis and calls on everyone to actively join the urgent struggle against militarism and war today.