Germany Must Ship Leopard Tanks To Ukraine Now, Columnist Argues

Russian troops were surprised by the Ukrainian army's recent success in eastern Ukraine — but so was the West, including the German government, which had hardly expected Ukrainian forces would advance so rapidly, Miodrag Soric wrote in his column for Deutsche Welle (DW).

Photo Insert: The German government is being asked once again to send modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The alleged military superpower Russia, with its endless supply possibilities of guns, tanks and fighter planes, faced Ukrainian forces that have for months been pleading every day for weapons from the West to allow them to keep fighting.

Now, once again, and on short notice, the German government is being asked to send modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Kyiv wants to use the momentum on the battlefield and beat back the Russian attackers as far as possible.

Further territorial gains would be an important bargaining chip in negotiations with Moscow about a possible ceasefire.

Once again, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hanging back, saying he first wants to coordinate the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks in particular with the US, France, and the UK. Second, despite the arms deliveries to Kyiv, he does not want to completely break off talks with the Kremlin.

Third, the German head of government fears Russia's President Vladimir Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons to prevent an imminent military defeat. The West would like to see the conflict end with a political solution that all parties — including Moscow — can live with.

Western allies don't have weeks to agree on the delivery of tanks to Ukraine. They must move in a matter of days. Such a decision would significantly increase Putin's willingness for serious negotiations. The West need not fear the use of nuclear weapons. These are threatening gestures by the Kremlin, more rhetoric than anything else.

“Rarely do wars turn out the way politicians imagine, a lesson Russian President Putin has learned the hard way these past months. Back in February he thought his so-called ‘special operation’ would last a few days, at best weeks, handing him an overwhelming victory. It turns out he could hardly have better demonstrated to the world the Russian troops' military incompetence and poor morale. A military defeat would threaten his power. That is an opportunity for the West, not a threat. Putin does not tend to take irrational action. He respects opponents only when they stand up to him in force. He exploits weakness, including disunity in the West, to his advantage,” Soric wrote.

Western allies don't have weeks to agree on the delivery of modern tanks to Ukraine. They must move quickly, in a matter of days. Such a decision, another demonstration of unity in the West, would significantly increase Putin's willingness for serious negotiations. Also, the West need not fear the use of nuclear weapons.

These are threatening gestures by the Kremlin, more rhetoric than anything else.

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