On the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the world is now closer to the brink of nuclear war than ever before since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the appeal said.
"The recent reports have revealed that during the NATO maneuvers Trident Juncture 15 the use of nuclear weapons against Russia is set to be practiced among other things," the website said.
After these "unmistakable provocations" Russia has also "significantly upgraded" its strategic nuclear forces.
"With today's nuclear arsenal, which can wipe out all human beings dozens of times, the world is somnambulistically approaching the abyss. We, the undersigned, demand the immediate stop of confrontation with Russia and China and a return to a political resolution of all conflicts," the appeal said.
In June, about 100 generals and senior officers of the former East German armed forces condemned the Western war rhetoric against Russia in an open letter to the German public and called for cooperation between the warring parties.
Six months earlier, more than 60 prominent German representatives in the fields of politics, business, culture and media had also demanded a new Russia-course. They warned of a possible new war in Europe and called for an ease in tensions.