Two Leopard 2 A6 heavy tanks and a Puma infantry fighting vehicle from the Bundeswehr’s 9th training brigade are participating in a demonstration of capabilities during a visit by then-Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to Bundeswehr training grounds in February 2022. Münster, Germany.
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Two Leopard 2 A6 heavy tanks and a Puma infantry fighting vehicle from the Bundeswehr’s 9th training brigade are participating in a demonstration of capabilities during a visit by then-Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to Bundeswehr training grounds in February 2022. Münster, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
BERLIN – Western defense officials continued to pressure Germany on Friday to allow the export of its sophisticated Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine’s allies and their military aides are meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to coordinate the final phase of arms deliveries.
But until now, Germany has not agreed to produce its own heavy tanks and prevented others from producing Leopard tanks, which they already bought from Germany.
At the opening of the meeting, officials emphasized urgency, avoiding direct confrontation with Germany.
“This is an important moment,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “Russia is trying to regroup, recruit and re-equip. Now is not the time to slow down. Now is the time to dig deeper.”
Last week, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that he will move to his country Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö also expressed his country’s readiness to deliver tanks to Kyiv.
German arms companies manufacture the Leopard 2, and while other countries may offer to export them, the German government legally has the final say on how and where the tanks are used.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly refused to give his country or others the green light to export Leopard tanks to Ukraine, saying Western tanks should be delivered to Kiev only if there is an agreement among key allies. This is what other countries are waiting for in this meeting.
Berlin does not want to supply Kiev with weapons that would allow it to attack Russian soil or draw NATO into a wider conflict with Moscow. Scholz claimed that Germany was already one of Ukraine’s biggest financial backers during Russia’s more than 10-month-long invasion of Ukraine.
“Germany will not go alone, Germany will act together with its allies, especially our transatlantic partner, the United States.” Anything else would be irresponsible in such a dangerous situation,” he added. the chancellor said on January 9 at an event sponsored by his center-left Social Democratic Party in Berlin.
Ukraine has demanded heavy weapons as Ukrainian leaders and security experts warn that Russia is planning a new and intensified offensive against Ukrainian forces.
For months, German public opinion supported Scholz’s refusal to send heavy weapons to Ukraine. But according to the latest Forsa poll this week, German support for the delivery of battle tanks to Ukraine has reached an all-time high: 46% of respondents support the delivery of Leopard tanks and the same percentage oppose.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced the latest military aid package for Ukraine. The $2.5 billion package includes 90 Stryker combat vehicles, 59 Bradley fighting vehicles and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, but no tanks. This latest announcement brings the total amount of US military aid to Ukraine to $26.7 billion.
Meanwhile, the defense ministers of Estonia, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as representatives of Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Slovakia, met on Thursday “to reaffirm our determination and determination to support Ukraine.” his heroic resistance to illegal and unprovoked Russian aggression.”
Forming the Tallinn Pledge, the group pledged to “jointly continue to deliver an unprecedented array of donations to the defense of Ukraine, including main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defense, ammunition and infantry fighting vehicles.”
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that more Western weapons would prolong Ukraine’s misery and said deepening Western military aid risked an “upward spiral” of direct conflict between Russia and NATO forces.
“We see a commitment to the dramatic illusion that Ukraine can succeed on the battlefield,” Peskov said. “This is a dramatic illusion of the Western community, which is repeatedly regretted. We are sure of that.”
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