Germany looks to the US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine – POLITICO

[ad_1]

Click play to listen to this article

expressed by artificial intelligence.

BERLIN/LONDON/WASHINGTON — Britain’s moves to supply battle tanks to Ukraine are a headache for Olaf Schultz — but the German chancellor is still unlikely to overcome his reluctance to send in heavy German armor without taking the initiative from Washington.

London’s plans to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine will not change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to deliver Germany’s powerful Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, Scholz’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

Warsaw suggested that the German-made Panthers could be delivered via a broader coalition of European countries. A company of Leopard tanks will be transferred to Ukraine as part of the international coalition build-up. Such a decision already [taken] In Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big hurdle for these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the go-ahead to re-export German-made arms.

“There is no change in the situation now because of the move announced by the British government,” spokesman Steffen Heppistreit told a news conference in Berlin. He added that, as stated earlier on Monday, he is not aware of any formal requests by partner countries to jointly supply the Ukrainian army with Leopard tanks.

Two German officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Schultz’s position relied heavily on US President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor had already coordinated closely when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and US infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

At a regional campaign rally in Berlin on Monday, Schultz stressed the importance of discussing weapons with the US president, saying tank shipments to Ukraine should be discussed “with friends, allies and especially with our transatlantic partner, with the United States of America.”

Hepstreet said Wednesday that Schultz and Biden’s decision last week marked a “qualitative new step” in support of Ukraine, and stressed that allies “will have to see along the way” what further steps can be taken in “international coordination.”

However, the British plans, which are expected to be formally announced at a meeting of Western defense officials at the Ramstein military base in Germany on January 20, are likely to increase pressure on Schulze as the UK will be the first country to supply Ukraine. Military with modern western battle tanks.

Downing Street said on Wednesday that British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is leading discussions with Western allies about how to send “game-changing” tanks into Ukraine.

The chancellor repeatedly argued against sending the Panthers by saying that Germany should not act alone in sending Western tanks – an argument that would be invalidated by Britain’s move. So far, countries have only supplied Ukraine with old Soviet-era battle tanks, but stocks of these vehicles and ammunition are increasingly declining, and awareness is growing that Kyiv needs more support amid fears of a new Russian attack.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told German broadcaster ARD on Wednesday that he was convinced that sooner or later Germany would agree to send the Panthers.

“Even if Germany had certain rational arguments not to do it, Germany would still do it later,” Kuleba said. “We’ve already seen this with self-propelled howitzers, the IRIS-T air defense system, and more recently with Marders and Patriot.” [air defense] systems. ”

Two German officials said Schultz’s position relied heavily on US President Joe Biden Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

Kuleba added, “It’s always a similar pattern: first they say ‘no’, then they vehemently defend their decision, only to say ‘yes’ in the end. We are still trying to understand why the German government would do this to itself.”

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the German parliament’s defense committee and member of parliament from Schulze’s liberal coalition partner, the FDP, also urged Schultz to follow British plans and drop his reluctance to send heavy tanks.

“After Marder, Leopard must follow so that Ukraine can successfully defend itself against Russia’s brutal war of aggression,” Strack-Zimmerman told Politico. “Germany must ultimately be ahead of the curve strategically and must not always react only when the situation in Ukraine deteriorates.”

It does not seem that the United States itself is ready to send battle tanks in the near future.

Talks continue between the US and the Ukrainians about providing US-made Abrams tanks, but there has been little progress as the Biden administration believes a European-led solution is best.

The Department of Defense has been reluctant to provide the Abrams to Ukraine due to significant maintenance and sustainability challenges. The tank division can take up to 600,000 gallons of fuel per day, and few tank technologies have been approved for export.

“It’s always a topic of discussion but it’s not close to a decision,” said a person familiar with the internal deliberations who asked not to be identified.

“Certainly, we know that maintaining an Abrams tank in addition to being a gas guzzler is a huge challenge,” Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, told reporters at the Pentagon last week. “It’s about the right capacity in multiple aspects, and maintenance and sustainability is one of them, which is important, especially when there are alternative capabilities that, you know, might — might provide ease of maintenance or sustainability.”

Ukrainian officials have suggested that the United States send only a few Abrams tanks — fewer than five — in order to spur Europe into action, said a second person familiar with U.S.-Ukraine discussions. Despite the promise of complete transparency about where the tanks will be deployed and how they will be used, the Pentagon has not signed off on the idea.

[ad_2]