World News

Pressure on German Scholz to send heavy weapons to Ukraine grows – POLITICO

Press play to hear this article

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under increasing pressure to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine at home and abroad as the Russian invasion enters a new and potentially crucial phase.

Western allies and members of Scholz’s ruling coalition have become increasingly outspoken in their public criticism of the Social Democratic chancellor and his call to send tanks, artillery and other equipment to Ukrainian forces.

“Germans must firmly support Ukraine today if we are to believe that they have drawn conclusions from their own history,” said Donald Tusk, former European Council president and former Polish prime minister who now leads the center-right Alliance of the European People’s Party. announced on Wednesday.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas posted a chart on Twitter this week showing the support provided by a number of Ukrainian countries, taking into account their economic output. Her own country was at the top, Germany was at the bottom.

“Our deeds speak louder than words. #ArmUkraineNow “, tweets Kallas.

Scholz insisted that Germany supported Ukraine with various weapons and provided a list of weapons that the German defense industry could supply to Kyiv. He also promised to help NATO partners send tanks or artillery to Ukraine by supplying training or ammunition or replacing the equipment they send.

But so far he has ruled out the supply of German tanks such as the Leopard or Marder in Ukraine. German officials have said Berlin will not be able to meet its NATO commitments if it supplies these tanks from its own armed forces. They also say it will take months to train Ukrainian forces to use the tanks, while they are already familiar with Soviet-designed equipment such as the T-72 tanks, which Eastern European countries still have in stock.

Berlin also suggests that the supply of modern German tanks will be seen by Russia as an escalation of Western involvement in the conflict and could provoke a military response from Moscow.

Lars Klingbail, an ally of the Scholz Social Democrats (SPD), on Thursday defended the Chancellor’s cautious approach. “In the current situation, it is legal to have a chancellor who leads with prudence, who leads with reflection, who thinks things through, who coordinates with international partners,” he told ZDF television.

Responding to criticism that Scholz did not make clear, Klingbeil said: “There are no simple answers to complex situations.

But members of both the Greens and the Liberal Free Democrats (FDP), the SPD’s partners in the ruling coalition, called on Scholz to speak up and step up.

“The chancellor misses a historic opportunity,” said FDP MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chairman of the Bundestag’s defense committee. “All I want is leadership and a clear approach. We must not waste time when it comes to Ukraine. It’s just a mystery to me why communication and action are so vague. “

He asked for clarity

Scholz was particularly criticized for his lack of clarity in a press conference he gave after a video conference with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

He also said during the press conference that Germany’s contribution was in line with that of other Western countries.

“Look at what others who are closely connected to us are doing,” he said. “All of our deliveries fit into what our closest allies and friends have done on their part.

However, this excuse sounds increasingly hollow, as not only has the United States begun to supply heavier weapons such as howitzers, helicopters and M113 armored vehicles, but European partners are also weighing similar materials.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that the Netherlands “will send heavier materials to Ukraine, including armored vehicles”.

“Together with the allies, we are looking for additional heavy supplies,” he added.

Belgium is reportedly considering supplying Kyiv with M109 howitzers. The Czech Republic and Slovakia have already sent Soviet-era tanks or air defense batteries to Ukraine.

“Our NATO and EU partners are a little confused,” said Claudia Major, head of the international security department at the think tank of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Part of the controversy includes a “weapons list” that Scholz presented at a news conference. The chancellor said his government had “asked the German defense industry to tell us what materials it could supply in the near future” and that Ukraine could make its own “choice” of weapons on the list, which Berlin would then fund and supply.

Still, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnik, said none of the key weapons Kyiv had asked to repel Russia’s new offensive in the east, such as tanks, were on the list. Moreover, the German daily Bild reported on Wednesday night that it had obtained a list of weapons from the German defense industry and a second list that Scholz handed over to Ukrainians – from which almost all heavy weapons were cut.

“The result: the possible export of weapons from the German arms industry to Ukraine … has shrunk from 48 to 24 pages,” Bild reported.

German authorities say the list focuses on weapons that can be delivered in a short time, while defense companies will take months to supply tanks.

They say it is faster and more efficient to supply Ukraine with Soviet-type tanks that its forces are already familiar with.

“We must not allow Putin to win this war of aggression. That is why it is so important to provide clear support for Ukraine. But we are reaching our borders because we must and will continue to ensure the defense of the country and the alliance, “Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told a news conference on Thursday.

That is why it is important now to take other paths that quickly lead to Ukraine’s support, and that is why it is important for our Eastern European partners, the countries that still have Soviet-era weapons, to hand them over as much as possible. we provide this support when completing them. “

However, such arguments are of limited appeal to Ukrainian officials. On the one hand, Soviet-era tanks like the T-72 have a much higher risk of exploding in battle, killing their crew, than Western tanks like the German leopard.

Military expert Major said the German government urgently needed to come up with a strategy to provide better support for Ukraine in the future, given that the war is likely to continue for some time.

“We need to look a few months ahead and ask ourselves: What are the options, what can the industry provide and when, and how can we organize the right training for these devices in time?”

Laurentz Gerke contributed to the reports from Berlin.