For most participants who attended Friday’s meeting, the most coveted outcome eluded them. No agreement was reached that would allow the various countries that owned and operated German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks to send these vehicles to the Ukrainians. Western tanks have long been one of Kyiv’s key requests and are now widely viewed as essential to allow the Ukrainian military to retake more territory in the coming months.
The Danish contribution of a French-made weapon, one Ukrainian soldiers have classed as an artillery prize on the battlefield, was announced Thursday, on the eve of the Ramstein meeting. Ellemann-Jensen’s remark, one European diplomat told Yahoo News, was not an idle one.
That question was seemingly settled early on by the French. On Jan. 4th, Paris announced it would be sending “light tanks” in the form of AMX-10RC heavy reconnaissance vehicles to Kyiv. Pledges from Ukraine’s allies followed that same week. Germany offered up Marder infantry fighting vehicles and the United States said it was sending 50 — later increased to 100 — of its own prized Bradleys, adding two modern and capable armored systems long on Kyiv’s wish list.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a community visit to the Eden Project North on January 19, 2023 in Morecambe, United Kingdom. The model Ukraine needs most is the German-produced Leopard 2. This vehicle is high on Kyiv’s wish list for multiple reasons. It is the most widely used Western main battle tank and is in the arsenal of multiple European nations, including Ukraine’s staunch ally Poland, which, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hinted Thursday, had already put in a formal request for the transfer of 14.
Berlin shifted its position after the British announcement, claiming that only the U.S. Abrams counted. A “very, very, very, very needed decision,” Andrzej Duda, the Polish President, said at a panel in Davos on Tuesday, referring to German authorization to send the Leopard 2s. Duda’s Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nausėda, speaking on the same panel, called Berlin’s stalling a “pity because every day of this war costs a lot.”
“Foreign observers come to wonder whether the German government even has the slightest perception of the level of diplomatic isolation Germany is in,” Nathalie Vogel, a senior fellow at the Prague-based European Values Center for Security Policy. “The nomination of Pistorius comes as one more proof that the Chancellery is either irresponsible or very poorly informed. Pistorius has a long track record of highly debatable positions on Russia as member of the German-Russia Friendship Group.
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