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This Wednesday, in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country “will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it is necessary.” However, at the center of the debate are the tanks of discord. The Ukrainian president intervened in the forum shortly after to insist on the need for more military support.
Ukraine has experienced two tragic days in one week: first, the attack on a residential building that left dozens of civilians dead in Dnipro. Then, the accident of a helicopter in which the Minister of Defense was traveling, who lost his life along with 13 other people.
These are dark days for kyiv and the Ukrainian government insists that it needs more defensive and offensive weapons to be able to face one of the most powerful armies in the world, the Russian one. Several Western allies have already promised more military hardware, but eyes remain on one in particular: Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not miss out on his speech at the Davos Economic Forum, held in Zurich (Switzerland) to recall that his country has been a firm supporter of Ukraine during the almost eleven months of conflict against Russia. “We will continue to support Ukraine with extensive arms shipments, in coordination with our partners,” he said.
He mentioned, for example, defensive systems such as IRIS-T or Patriot and stressed that Berlin has already invested 12,000 million euros in aid to Ukraine.
However, left out of his speech were the Leopard 2 tanks, a German-made weapon that only Berlin can unlock and which has been at the center of the debate this week, allowing Ukraine greater offensive capacity.
The final decision on the tanks is expected to be made on Friday, January 20, but Volodimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, was clear in his speech in Davos, shortly after Scholz himself: “Western supplies of tanks and air defense units should get there faster than Russia could carry out the attacks.”
On several occasions, Zelensky insisted on the need to “accelerate military support” for his Army and asked the world to react “decisively and quickly.”
What are Leopard 2 tanks and why are they controversial?
Leopard is a tank that weighs over 60 tons, has a 120mm smoothbore gun, and can hit targets up to five kilometers away. It entered service in 1979, but thanks to its latest versions (Leopard 2A7) this vehicle is still considered top-of-the-line for its firepower, mobility, armor and systems, which are capable of facing Russia’s most advanced tanks such as T-72, T-80 and T-90.
These capabilities could be a turning point in Ukraine’s strategy to continue gaining ground on Moscow in the east, after its counteroffensive stalled after several victories. Being German-made, Berlin is the one who has to give the green light for the tanks to reach kyiv.
The decision is not easy for the German government: the war in Ukraine has already forced it to change its traditional anti-war stance that the country promulgated until a year ago, at least on European soil, following the two world wars. Until now, Germany has mainly provided military aid to kyiv in defensive matters.
But the passage of time and the urgency of the conflict have earned Scholz internal criticism, as members of his own cabinet believe they should not interfere in the decision to send the tanks to Ukraine.
The final verdict is expected on January 20, when leaders of NATO and other Ukraine allies meet at the US military base at Ramstein in western Germany. The person in charge of the decision will also be a newly appointed defense minister, Boris Pistorius.
Allies collude to put pressure on Berlin
Criticism of the German chancellor comes not only from his own ranks, but from other kyiv-aligned governments that have kept up the pressure throughout the week for Berlin to relent and for permission to export the Leopards.
This same Wednesday, also in Davos, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, told Reuters that “this is a crucial moment in the war and in the need for a significant increase in support for Ukraine.” “If we want a negotiated peaceful solution tomorrow, we must provide more weapons today,” he concluded.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urged neighboring Germany on Monday to send Ukraine the weapons it needs to fight Russian soldiers, in a speech in Berlin that implicitly criticized the Scholz government.
The UK is also trying to persuade Germany. In what analysts see as a boost to motivate Berlin, London announced it would send 14 of its main battle tanks, the famous Challengers, along with additional artillery support to Ukraine. In this way, the United Kingdom becomes the first western country to send western tanks
“I know there have been concerns in the German body politic that they don’t want to go it alone. Well, they are not alone,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States has the same purpose. “The United States hopes that the Europeans (referring mainly to Germany) will take the initiative,” said Rachel Rizzo, a member of the Atlantic Council, adding that she “hopes that Washington will privately pressure the Europeans to devote more of their resources.” .
The North American country has been the one that has spent the most on military and financial support to Ukraine during the war with approximately 24,000 million dollars.
