Ukraine calls for more weapons. It’s also about tanks. Coalition politicians support this and continue to apply pressure. Chancellor Olaf Scholz sticks to his line.
In the debate about possible tank deliveries to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) referred to deliveries of heavy weapons that had already taken place and confirmed that Germany would not go it alone.
In the “Interview of the Week” on Deutschlandfunk, Scholz said the federal government was doing a lot. It was precisely the weapons that Germany had made available that “made the difference and made the current successes that Ukraine has achieved possible.” That’s why it “makes sense that we continue there”.
Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, has been asking the West, and specifically Germany, for weeks to also supply Western-style battle tanks and armored personnel carriers. So far, no NATO country has delivered Western-style main battle tanks to Ukraine. Scholz always emphasizes that Germany will not go it alone on this issue. However, the coalition partners FDP and Greens are open to expanding arms deliveries.
“We will not go it alone in everything we do,” said Scholz in the Deutschlandfunk interview. Deliveries have been expanded “wisely, prudently and carefully” and coordinated with others. “I want to say this very clearly: we have supported Ukraine, we will do it, we are doing it on a very large scale and also with very relevant weapons that we are providing, and at the same time our goal remains that it will not be too of an escalation of the war between Russia and NATO.”
Coalition partners criticize
Criticism came on Saturday from the FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann: “In view of the atrocities committed by Isjum, I think it is irresponsible to hide behind warnings about so-called ‘going it alone’ and the partner countries, when exactly these partners are practically begging Germany to finally moving forward,” she wrote on Twitter.
“We have to use the momentum that the Ukrainians have literally fought for,” wrote the deputy leader of the FDP, Johannes Vogel, in a guest article for “Zeit Online”. Ukraine must win the war for its territory and thus force Putin to make peace. “Our task is to support the Ukraine in this – with the delivery of further heavy weapons, also apart from the tough exchange of rings. I am convinced that this expressly includes the Marder and Fuchs tanks.”
Göring-Eckardt: “Still someone who wants to negotiate now?”
Bundestag Vice-President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) tweeted with regard to graves and torture sites that, according to Ukrainian information, were discovered in recently recaptured areas: “More mass graves. Apparently torture. Still someone who wants to negotiate now? Or should we deliver something as soon as possible is necessary? Every day that we wait, people die who are also fighting for our freedom.”
Pressure is also coming from the opposition. According to reports from “Spiegel” and “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”, the Union faction wants to submit a motion for an expansion of arms aid for Ukraine in the Bundestag in the coming week.
So far, Germany has supplied air and anti-tank weapons and artillery, among other things. Artillery are guns that can fire from afar at enemy positions or behind enemy lines, for example to hit ammunition depots. Self-propelled howitzers are also part of it; in contrast to fixed guns, they are mobile and their crew is protected by the armor.
The main battle tanks demanded by Ukraine could be used primarily for advances and the recapture of areas. They have great firepower and are built for direct combat. Infantry fighting vehicles, which are also under discussion, serve to transport soldiers as safely as possible to the combat area and to support them in combat.
Bundeswehrverband: No more levies from troop stocks
The German Bundeswehr Association, representing the interests of the soldiers, was open to the delivery of armored personnel carriers to the Ukraine, but not from Bundeswehr stocks. “We understand Ukraine’s desire for heavy weapons only too well. We can imagine, for example, handing over armored personnel carriers from the stocks of the industry,” said association head André Wüstner to the editorial network Germany. From the point of view of the association, what is no longer possible is the delivery of weapons and ammunition from the Bundeswehr. “Many in the Bundeswehr fear that this policy of further cannibalization of our troops will have negative effects,” said Wüstner.
Federal government allows howitzer purchase
The federal government has meanwhile approved Ukraine’s purchase of German-made howitzers. A government spokesman said on Saturday when asked: “We can confirm that a permit has been granted for the export of 18 RCH-155 howitzers.” The “Welt am Sonntag” had previously reported on it, citing documents available to it. Accordingly, it is about a planned order from Kiev with the armaments group Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) worth 216 million euros. However, the howitzers could be delivered in two and a half years at the earliest.
The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk told the newspaper: “This will make a major contribution to massively strengthening the effectiveness of the Ukrainian army,” said Melnyk.