![]() ![]() ![]() “If Germany continues to refuse to deliver tanks, the reputational damage will be significant. “Modern, Western-built tanks have become a kind of a symbol for your readiness to support Ukraine, a symbol of your willingness to take risks, a symbol for your willingness to stand up against Russian aggression,” said Matthias Dembinski, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. This hesitance has divided the SPD from its coalition partners and led to some international allies, especially in Eastern Europe, accusing Germany of shirking its responsibilities as a major European power. That step has so far proven too much for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his allies in the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who insist on a careful course, which they say is in step with Germany’s NATO allies, and guided by a sceptical German public and a fear of escalating the war in Ukraine. If it were to provide the battle tanks, or even licence the re-export of Leopards from other countries’ arsenals, it would mark the first time that Berlin has led on weapons exports since the war began. Germany is one of the largest donors of military hardware to Ukraine, but over 11 months of war, Berlin has only stepped up deliveries under pressure and only after other allies made the first move. Berlin, Germany – Ukrainian soldiers in the field now use German Gepard anti-aircraft guns to defend their skies, German anti-tank weapons to pierce Russian armour, and German howitzers to shell enemy troops.īut the prize that Ukraine urgently seeks to regain territory before an expected Russian offensive this spring, the German-manufactured Leopard 2 battle tank, remains frustratingly out of reach. ![]()
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