Decision pending – Zelenskyj continues to fight for tanks for Ukraine

At the conference at the American air base on Friday, no decision has yet been made about the delivery of battle tanks, also because Germany and the US are still hesitant. “Ukraine will get all the help it needs,” US President Joe Biden replied when asked by journalists in Washington if he supported Poland’s plan to supply Ukraine with German Leopard main battle tanks. However, a senior US official, who declined to be named, confirmed that the US was sticking to its position not to send any Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine itself.

Poland ready for delivery, Germany must agree
Ukraine has long been demanding the delivery of main battle tanks. This mainly concerns the German Leopard 2. Poland, among others, has declared itself willing to deliver. However, since the tanks come from German production, Germany must agree to a transfer. So far this has not happened and no decision has been made at a meeting of Western allies at the US air base in Ramstein. The question of whether Germany itself will supply main battle tanks is also an open question. In the run-up to the Ramstein meeting, it was learned that Chancellor Olaf Scholz linked a delivery of the Leopard tanks to the United States also supplying Abrams tanks.

Nevertheless, in his video message distributed every night in Kiev, Zelenskyy was optimistic that he would receive the German Leopard tanks. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also said after a meeting with his new German colleague Boris Pistorius that talks would continue. According to Reznikov, media in Kiev reported that a number of states had agreed to start training Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks. In particular, he thanked Poland for the initiative.

Longer-range missiles were also needed
Zelensky said longer-range missiles are also needed to liberate Ukrainian areas. Not everything discussed in Ramstein was intended for the public, Zelenskyj said. The bottom line, however, is to strengthen Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression.

Ukraine first officially asked Germany for the main battle tanks on March 3, 2022 – a good week after the Russian attack – and then repeatedly repeated this request. As a production country, Germany plays a key role in the matter. A transfer to the Ukraine by other countries must be approved by Berlin.

The US government stressed that each country makes sovereign decisions about the supply of weapons. “We don’t push anyone and don’t let anyone push us,” John Kirby, director of communications for the National Security Council, said in Washington Friday.

Ukrainians “need and count on us”
EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola assumes that Ukraine will receive the Leopard tanks. At the Ramstein meeting, “further important commitments were made and I also remain optimistic about the tanks, as this is the logical next step,” the Maltese newspaper quoted the “Handelsblatt”. The Leopard 2 tanks are at the center of the debate “because there are a lot of them, because they are relatively easy to maintain, because many European countries have them and because Ukraine simply needs them”. It is good that the alliance partners in Ramstein have reached agreement on new arms deliveries. “However, what we urgently need is leadership, unity and a common approach to supplying Leopard 2 tanks.” The Ukrainians “need us and they count on us,” Metsola emphasises. “We must not disappoint them. This is the crucial moment that requires bold decisions and time is of the essence.”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed that Ukraine’s military success does not depend on a single weapon system. The Ukrainians had received a package of major military capabilities, including armored personnel carriers from the United States and other countries. If used correctly, these tools can lead to success.

Sanctions against Wagner Group
The US government also announced that Wagner’s private Russian army, which fights alongside Kremlin troops in Ukraine, would become a transnational criminal organization. The classification allows the United States and other countries to restrict the international activities of the mercenary group and its global network of supporters, Kirby said. The US government will impose specific sanctions on the Wagner Group next week. Kirby has not yet provided details on the sanctions. Wagner is a criminal organization responsible for atrocities and human rights violations in Ukraine and around the world.

The group is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. About 50,000 fighters currently serve in Ukraine in the ranks of the private army, Kirby said. Among them are 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 prisoners whom Prigozhin had recruited from Russian prisons. In response to the announced sanctions, the Wagner boss accused the United States of being criminals itself. Now that Wagner and the US are colleagues, they would therefore fight each other as “criminal clans,” Prigozchin said.