Western aid appears endless, constant and escalating.Ī Leopard 2 A7 main battle tank of the German armed forces Bundeswehr drives through the mud in the context of an informative educational practice "Land Operation Exercise 2017" at the military training area in Munster, northern Germany, on October 13, 2017. But the message is palpable long before that. The practical effects may not be felt in time for a spring offensive by either side, Russia or Ukraine. And NATO members are pledging equipment at such a pace that the last announcement is not in play before the next one comes.īarely a month ago, the US pledged Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine, and they are yet to arrive. Western inventories can be rebuilt or replenished, but it takes time – decades maybe. And that might suggest they believe Moscow will not win. These NATO members think the decisive conflict with Russia will be in Ukraine, with Ukraine. The Danes’ decision to send their Caesar artillery the Norwegian decision to send a large proportion of their Leopards both are testament to this. Second, these NATO members are less concerned about being attacked by Russia itself in the imminent future: they are handing over weapons they would urgently need in the event of such a conflict. First, these nations are not concerned about breaching Russian “red lines.” The long-held belief is crumbling that some elements of NATO assistance to Ukraine could risk provoking a nuclear power too far. This latest burst of Western help says two things. But Washington’s willingness to take this task on speaks volumes about its commitment to the war and how it views Ukraine’s prospects for a wider victory. Servicing and maintaining these tanks across Ukraine’s enormous expanses will be a stark challenge. It provided a NATO umbrella for the move, even if it will take months, maybe years, to get the logistically complex American main battle tank into play. It would have been somewhat remarkable had these European powers all been on an identical page about this fight from day one.īut America’s plans to send a largely symbolic 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to two US officials familiar with the deliberations, have emboldened Germany enough to drop its objections to the Leopard. Many senior figures in its towering Social Democratic Party (SPD) – home of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – have been perilously close to the Kremlin. Germany – under the Nazis – last let its tanks loose in the continent’s worst episode of bloodshed yet. Poland has experienced the Soviet grasp, with many of its citizens able to remember how that version of Russian imperialism felt. Throughout the weeks of dispute and badgering around Berlin’s reluctance to assist Kyiv, some in Moscow will have heard something different to disunity: a West contemplating sending its most aggressive armor to a state it considered unfit even to discuss NATO membership seriously with a year ago.Īn alliance of the size, and varying histories, of NATO would always have some disagreements on how to handle the largest land war in Europe since World War II. The combined US and European decision to send tanks to Ukraine is not the display of fractious democracies it might appear to be. This is new, and fierce, and it portrays a NATO unafraid. But unlike those systems, they are unequivocally about Ukraine retaking territory. Like the artillery and rocket systems that preceded them, they are intended to hit Russia’s troops hard in a ground offensive. ![]() ![]() It is a momentous decision, partly because these – unlike the air defense systems, or the anti-tank missiles – are not defensive weapons. Even in disarray, the message ends up being one of unity.Īfter weeks of Poland and other NATO members openly pressuring Germany to permit the dispatch of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, finally it appears the United States and some of its European Union allies will send armor – a move that was unthinkable months ago – to the frontline against Russia.
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