Germany’s admission that Kyiv will receive fewer tanks than promised speaks of a failure to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). A columnist wrote about this on February 15 Bloomberg Arne Delfs.
“The recognition of the minister (Head of the German Ministry of Defense Boris Pistorius. – Ed.) marked a failure in the attempt of the Western allies to help the Ukrainian army cope with the expected intensification of hostilities in the coming weeks,” the journalist believes.
In addition, according to Pistorius, Poland has prepared about 30 Leopard 2 A4 tanks for shipment to Ukraine. However, many of them are in poor condition and need to be repaired before they can be used, the article says.
Earlier, on February 14, Pistorius noted that the situation around the supply of Leopard 2 tanks promised to Ukraine is not as successful as it seemed at first glance, since the condition of many vehicles leaves much to be desired. According to the minister, the combat readiness of the mentioned tanks, as well as the number of available spare parts for them, does not yet mean that this idea is successful.
On the same day, Bundestag MP from the Left Party Sevim Dagleden said that Germany should consider refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons systems that are capable of firing cluster munitions, recalling the convention banning cluster munitions that Ukraine has so actively used.
On February 10, it was reported that more than 30,000 people signed a petition sent to German Chancellor Scholz calling for an end to the increase in arms supplies to Kiev and to initiate peace talks. The authors of the document on February 25 intend to hold a rally in support of their initiative in the center of Berlin.
Meanwhile, on February 8, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French leader Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Scholz said that Berlin would transfer military aid to Kyiv as much as necessary. In response, Zelensky called on the heads of European countries to transfer tanks and heavy weapons to Ukraine “as soon as possible.”
On February 6, Senator of the Federation Council Olga Kovitidi, in a commentary to Izvestiya, said that Western officials who decided to supply tanks to Ukraine “cause colossal harm to their people.” She noted that the “complete lack of self-preservation instinct” among a number of European states is a matter of concern.
Before that, on January 25, the German government announced a decision to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany is ready to form two tank battalions, and at the first stage, Berlin will send a company of 14 tanks. Following the decision of the FRG, other European countries announced their plans to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it unbelievable that Russia would again be threatened by German tanks. The head of state drew a parallel with the times of the Great Patriotic War. According to him, the enemies are again going to fight with Russia on the soil of Ukraine “by the hands of the last of Hitler, the hands of Bandera.”
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