Berlin Germany is supplying Ukraine with Marder tanks and a Patriot missile defense system. The US will also supply the government in Kyiv with light Bradley armored personnel carriers and, as planned, Patriot systems. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden agreed on this in a telephone call on Thursday evening. The Handelsblatt had previously learned from government circles that “a qualitatively new step” in arms exports to Ukraine was imminent. Both governments also want to take care of the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the respective weapon systems.
The German-American agreement is the result of votes that have been ongoing between the two governments since December 10th. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said at noon that a decision would be made “imminently”.
The industry had long ago repaired several decommissioned Marder-type armored personnel carriers and submitted export applications. So far, however, the federal government has taken the position that Germany will not single-handedly supply main battle tanks from Western production.
Earlier, France had announced that it would deliver AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine, without specifying the number or timing. President Emmanuel Macron promised his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy that, said an employee of the French Presidential Office. It is the first time that Western-made tanks are being supplied to the Ukrainian army.
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However, this does not entirely correspond to the facts. For example, the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks deployed in Ukraine are German-made. The armored and armed M113 troop carriers also come from Western stocks, and Germany financed the conversion of the Danish vehicles.
>> Read also: Fighting, protecting, scouting – which tank type can do what?
After France announced that it would deliver reconnaissance tanks to Ukraine, defense politicians in the traffic light coalition unanimously called on the federal government to now also hand over tanks from Germany to Ukraine. In addition to the marten, the Leopard battle tank is mentioned again and again.
“Once again, the other partner countries are going first,” wrote the Chair of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), on Twitter. “Now we can finally get started in the spirit of Franco-German friendship, right?” she asked, addressing the Federal Chancellor directly.
The French tank AMX-10 RC is a light wheeled tank that can be used for scouting but also as a tank destroyer. With its 105 mm gun, it is comparatively heavily armed, but cannot be compared to the Leopard 2 main battle tank.
Markus Kaim, security expert at the Science and Politics Foundation, would have hoped for a more coordinated process. The fact that France had pushed ahead was “a disaster for Franco-German relations and the common European foreign and security policy,” he told the Handelsblatt.
The federal government is threatened with a new debate about what is a battle tank and what is not.
(Photo: Reuters)
In government circles in Berlin, on the other hand, this was presented differently: For weeks, they have been in close contact with France and the USA about new arms deliveries. In other words, everyone planned the new deliveries together, only Macron rushed ahead.
Kaim said it is important that the federal government now commits itself to how it intends to deal with the apparent military standstill in the Ukraine war. “If the impression prevails that the current course of the front does not yet permit a peace agreement, then Germany should also supply additional weapons – in coordination with the partners in the Ramstein format.” The first meeting of a support group of around 50 countries took place at the US air force base in Ramstein took place, which since then have regularly agreed on support services.
The war, in which neither side is currently making any major gains in territory, could also be an opportunity to start a diplomatic initiative together with Poland and France, for example, to bring the hostilities to an end, Kaim points out. “Here the federal government could show that it is serious about its declared claim to leadership.”
So far, Germany has not been willing to supply armored personnel carriers or battle tanks or to grant export permits.
(Photo: dpa)
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Thursday that negotiations with Ukraine to end the fighting are only possible if Kyiv recognizes the Russian conquests. At the same time, however, the Kremlin boss ordered a one-and-a-half-day ceasefire over the Orthodox Christmas celebration.
>> Read here: The deadlocked battle – Six factors that could make a decision
So far, despite high public pressure, Germany has not been willing to supply armored personnel carriers or battle tanks or to grant export permits. The armaments group Rheinmetall had already declared in September that it had repaired 16 decommissioned Marder armored personnel carriers at its own expense, which could be delivered to Ukraine immediately.
There are also initiatives where countries that use the Leopard main battle tank could band together and cede some examples to Ukraine. Since it is a German product, Germany would have to issue the export license here as well. this has not yet become apparent.
The federal government remains cautious – Habeck expects further arms deliveries
A spokesman for the federal government said on Wednesday that Germany is doing everything that helps Ukraine and is necessary. “At the same time, we are doing everything we can to ensure that NATO and Germany are not involved in this war,” emphasized the spokesman. As far as the delivery of weapons is concerned, there will be no German going it alone. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) emphasized on Thursday during his trip to Norway that the federal government would “always adapt arms deliveries to Ukraine to the requirements of the battlefield”.
After France’s announcement, when asked by a journalist, US President Biden also said that his government would not rule out the delivery of Bradley tanks to Ukraine. This is an armored personnel carrier that was delivered to the US armed forces from the 1980s and can be compared to the German Marder.
The martens have not yet appeared in the list in which the federal government regularly provides information on completed and forthcoming arms deliveries to Ukraine. However, it is currently planned to supply Ukraine with 114 reconnaissance drones from industry stocks. Among other things, 20 rocket launchers with a caliber of 70 millimeters were newly delivered on pick-up trucks including ammunition, which are also provided by industry and financed from federal funds.
In total, the federal government issued licenses for the delivery of armaments worth 2.4 billion euros to Ukraine by January 2nd.
More: Multiple rocket launchers, tanks, howitzers – in 2022 Berlin approved arms exports for more than eight billion euros