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After weeks of hesitation amid impatience among Germany’s allies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday that his government would give Ukraine Leopard 2 battle tanks and approve requests from other countries to do the same.
In a statement, the German government said that initially it will supply Ukraine with one Leopard 2 A6 tank company, which includes 14 vehicles, from its own stock. The aim was for Germany and its allies to supply Ukraine with a total of two battalions, or 88 tanks.
“This decision follows the well-known line of supporting Ukraine as best we can,” Scholz said after a cabinet meeting in Berlin.
Germany is “acting in coordination” with its international allies, he said.
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Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany had advised several allies of the plan ahead of the announcement, including Canada.
“Germany will always be at the forefront when it comes to supporting Ukraine,” Scholz said later in a speech to lawmakers in the Bundestag.
The long-awaited decision comes after US officials said a preliminary agreement had been reached for the United States to send M1 Abrams tanks to help Kyiv push back Russian forces entrenched in the east nearly a year after the start of the war.
The reaction of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
Germany’s main battle tanks, further broadening defense support & amp; training mission, the green light for the partner to supply the same weapon. Just hearing about this is important & timely decisions on the phone with @OlafScholz. Thank you to the rector and friends in 🇩🇪.
By asking Washington to commit some of its own tanks, Berlin hopes to spread the risk of a counterattack from Russia.
Ekkehard Brose, head of Germany’s Federal Academy for Military Security Policy, said that binding the United States to the decision was crucial, so that Europe would not face a nuclear-armed Russia alone.
But he also notes the deeper historical significance of the decision.
“German-made tanks will again face Russian tanks in Ukraine,” he said, noting that this was “unthinkable” for Germany, which was responsible for the horrors of World War II.
Kremlin blasts ‘disaster plan’
Members of Scholz’s three-party coalition government welcomed the news ahead of the official announcement.
“The leopard has been released!” said German parliamentarian Katrin Goering-Eckardt, senior Green party parliamentarian.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democratic Party who chairs the parliament’s defense committee, said the news was “good news for persecuted and brave Ukraine.”
Strack-Zimmermann is one of the loudest voices calling for a quick decision on arms supplies to Ukraine.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left Party, each with current or historical ties to Russia, were critical of the decision.
“Germany risks being immediately drawn into war,” AfD leader Tino Chrupalla said.
“The provision of the Leopard battle tank, which ends another taboo, has the potential to bring us closer to a third world war than to the direction of peace in Europe,” the leader of the left parliament, Dietmar Bartsch, told the German news agency dpa.
Earlier this week, Poland officially asked Germany to approve the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks from Polish stocks to Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described German and US intentions with the tanks as “a rather dangerous plan.”
“I am sure that many specialists understand the absurdity of this idea,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Peskov predicted that “these tanks will be burned like all the others …. In addition it will cost a lot, and this will fall on the shoulders of European taxpayers.”
Abrams approved the reversal for the US
U.S. officials said details were still being worked out to send Abrams, which represents a reversal for the Joe Biden administration.
Much of the aid delivered so far in the 11-month war has been through a separate program that draws on Pentagon funds to get weapons faster to Ukraine. But even in that program, it took months to get the tanks to Ukraine and for Ukrainian forces to be trained. It was unclear Tuesday how soon the U.S. will begin training Ukrainian forces on the Abrams and how soon it might arrive on the battlefield.
So far, the US has refused to supply its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, citing extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges with the high-tech vehicle, the training required and maintaining the tanks. The official also said that the government is confident that the plan is now in place, but it will take time to implement it.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Brig. General Pat Ryder said Tuesday that he had nothing to announce about the US decision on the Abrams tank. But he said, “any time we have provided Ukraine with this type of system, we have provided that training and sustainment capability.”
The administration’s reversal comes just days after a coalition of more than 50 senior defense officials from Europe and beyond met in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s wartime needs, with battle tanks a central topic.
While some House Republicans in Congress have disputed the amount of military aid given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last February 24, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday “it’s time, it’s past time” for the Biden administration and its allies to send more. military aid to Ukraine, and that the US should provide more tanks and weapons to help Ukraine “win this war.”
“It’s time, way past time, for the Biden administration and our allies to get serious about helping Ukraine get the job done and take back its country.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clarified on Tuesday that he expects to receive more tanks from Western allies.
“There are not five, or 10, or 15 tanks. The need is greater,” he said.
LISTENING | Learn about The Wagner Group’s army-for-hire:
Front burner27:25The Wagner Group: Putin’s ‘shadow private army’
The Wagner Group is a private army that has been violently advancing Russian interests around the world – but in the shadows – for years. Now that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stopped, mercenary fighters have taken center stage to fight on Russia’s side. Mercenaries have been involved in some of the bloodiest battles of all wars. Mary Ilyushina is a reporter covering Russia for the Washington Post. Today on Front Burner, he joins guest host Jodie Martinson to explain the evolution, and growing influence, of the Wagner Group in Russia and beyond.
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