The hope was that critics who accused Germany of failing to support Ukraine with heavy equipment would now fall silent. But this hope did not last long. On Tuesday, on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda spoke up and accused the federal government of breaking its word in clear sentences.
Germany has promised to supply replacement tanks that Poland is handing over to Ukraine, the head of state told TV station Welt. This promise was not fulfilled. “And frankly, we’re very disappointed.” Like the Czech Republic, Poland is supplying Ukraine with Soviet-era T-72 tanks and hoping for more modern equipment for its armed forces in return. The Polish Army has around 250 German-made Leopard 2 tanks, which are currently being modernized.
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In Ukraine itself, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba again called for more rapid support for his country, including with heavy equipment, on Tuesday: “It is too early to conclude that Ukraine already has all the weapons it needs,” wrote him on Twitter. In particular, his country needs multiple rocket launchers and long-range artillery quickly. He also called his US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the subject.
To be delivered to Ukraine, although it has much more firepower than an armored personnel carrier.
US-supplied artillery pieces are now deployed in Ukraine. There has also been speculation for a long time that the Americans could supply modern M-142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. According to military experts, this weapon, which can shoot up to 300 kilometers, could become a “game changer” in the Ukraine conflict.
In addition to 30 Gepard tanks and the Leopard tanks, Germany has firmly committed to seven self-propelled howitzers 2000 for the ring exchange with the Czech Republic. Training of Ukrainian soldiers on the self-propelled artillery guns has begun.
Germany is reluctant to deliver battle tanks – without reason?
However, the federal government is still reluctant to deliver decommissioned Marder armored personnel carriers and Leopard 1 main battle tanks, which industry has in stock and wants to deliver to Ukraine.
The parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defense, Siemtje Möller (SPD), had said on Sunday in the ZDF program “Berlin direkt” that Germany, together with the western NATO allies, had stated that no armored personnel carriers or battle tanks from western manufacture would be delivered. And so far there has been no change in this position.
The deputy chairman of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Johann Wadephul (CDU), considers Möller’s statement to be “untenable”. NATO has not made any agreements on arms deliveries because it does not want to appear as an antagonist to Russia on this issue. That’s why weapons deliveries are organized in the so-called “Ramstein format”, said Wadephul.
At the end of April, representatives from 40 nations met at the invitation of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate to coordinate support for Ukraine. There was no exclusion of certain weapon systems there either, said the Union faction vice. In Ramstein, Federal Defense Minister Lambrecht had announced the Gepard delivery.
Security experts also pointed out that countries such as the USA, Great Britain and Spain supply armored vehicles made in the West which – at least with the appropriate superstructures – are definitely comparable to armored personnel carriers. For example, Denmark has announced that it will deliver M113 personnel carriers that have been refurbished in Germany.
A debate then ensued on Twitter, in which Möller also took part, as to where the boundary between armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks lies. Experts believe that the federal government has long since exceeded the limit, because the Cheetah or the Panzerhaubitze 2000, which Ukraine has already been promised, can develop much greater firepower than a Marder.
The argument put forward by Möller was “the next variant in a long chain of excuses that the federal government is looking for,” criticized Wadephul. Ukraine is suffering as a result, but so is Germany’s reputation in foreign policy. “The question is how long the coalition partners of the SPD will look at this without doing anything.”
The day before, the chairwoman of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, had urged patience for the liberal coalition partner. Cheetahs and self-propelled howitzers are being delivered, but it will take time for the weapons to be prepared, she said on NTV. “The annoying thing is that you could have started weeks ago. That’s actually the bitter thing,” emphasized the FDP politician.
More: Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: “NATO enlargement is a serious strategic defeat for Russia”