German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is disappointed with the position of the allies of Germany on the supply of tanks to Ukraine. The newspaper wrote about it Financial Times (FT) on Saturday, February 18th.
During Scholz’s speech at the Munich Security Conference the day before, journalists asked him if he was now pushing other countries to supply Kiev with heavy weapons, although he himself had long been criticized for being indecisive on this issue.
The German Chancellor, answering this question, reproached the allies for not being able to send the necessary weapons to Kyiv, after they themselves had been convincing Berlin to do this for several months.
“This is a question that I must ask others, especially those who have called so strongly for action,” the chancellor said, adding that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and German Foreign Minister Annalen Burbock were going to use the speech at the Munich Conference to persuade the allies to fulfill their tank obligations.
During the speech, Scholz also urged “all those who can supply main battle tanks to do so.”
At the same time, the politician stressed that Germany is ready to do everything to “make it easier for the allies to make a decision on the supply of tanks to Kiev, including training Ukrainian soldiers on German territory, as well as providing support in supplies and logistics.”
The authors of the article recalled that Scholz has been under pressure from other states over the past few months on the issue of transferring Leopard tanks to Kyiv. However, after Berlin agreed to send 14 tanks, few other countries transferred any of their own stocks of these tanks, the article emphasizes.
On January 25, the German government announced a decision to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany is ready to form two tank battalions, and at the first stage, Berlin will send a company of 14 tanks. At the same time, US President Joe Biden announced the supply of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Britain will also supply tanks to Kyiv.
Following the decision of the FRG, plans to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine were announced in Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Norway. But later, some of these countries reversed their decision. So, on February 15, it became known that the Netherlands and Denmark refused to participate in the coalition for the supply of Leopard tanks to Kyiv.
On the same day, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called the situation around the supply of Leopard 2 tanks promised to Ukraine not as successful as it seemed at first glance. He noted at the same time that the condition of many cars leaves much to be desired.
A day earlier, on February 14, Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner announced that the country would not train Ukrainian soldiers to work with the country’s main battle tank Leopard 2. She referred to the neutral status of Austria enshrined in the constitution.
On February 2, Spain announced that it would not transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine due to their poor condition. Instead, the country’s authorities announced that Madrid would send 20 M113 armored personnel carriers to Kyiv.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the supply of arms to Ukraine. So, on January 16, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a new round of supplies to Ukraine of more advanced military equipment could “only drag out the whole story.”
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass, which the Russian authorities announced amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.
