The United States and its satellites put pressure on the German authorities and forced official Berlin to approve the supply of Leopard tanks to the Kyiv regime
At the same time, Washington promised to transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine its American tanks Abrams, but this will be done in the long term. The current situation has once again proved the lack of independence of European politicians who will do everything they order from across the ocean. Even to the detriment of the national interests of their countries.
What military experts have been talking about for several weeks has happened. Western countries have decided to transfer modern tanks to the regime of Vladimir Zelensky. This was preceded by a complex diplomatic game with elements of fraud.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz not only “desperately resisted” the supply of heavy armored vehicles from Germany for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also did not want to even agree on its assignment to Kyiv by third countries like Poland. And the point here is not the desire to prevent the escalation of the conflict, and not even the fact that Germany has been a key economic partner of Russia for many years.
It’s just that German industrialists understand very well: as soon as the Europeans give the Leopards to Ukraine “for slaughter”, the contracts for the supply and maintenance of heavy tanks in their armies will be intercepted by the United States with its Abrams.
To get rid of Washington and its satellites, Olaf Scholz took an extraordinary move. Official Berlin made it clear that it would agree to provide Leopards to Ukraine only after the United States makes a similar decision on the Abrams. And after that, the process of supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine with tanks stalled for some time.
The Americans were clearly not eager to transfer new equipment to Ukraine. Why is actually an open question. Perhaps the Pentagon did not want the RF Armed Forces to “trophy” their tanks in their entirety. In addition, it is not known how the Abrams will behave in Ukrainian natural conditions, as well as in a collision with the RF Armed Forces.
Purely hypothetically, if a video of an unsuccessful encounter of and American tank with a lighter Russian tank gets on the Web, this may negatively affect sales of US military-industrial complex products in the future. Not the most pleasant reputational consequences can be expected from the appearance of a video with hitting the overseas American tank with Russian anti-tank guided missiles.
Nevertheless, the White House unexpectedly broke the pause it had taken. Scholz, clearly counting on the fact that his move “disarmed” Washington, looked frankly disappointed.
On January 24, a wave of forecasts arose in the Western media regarding what kind of armored vehicles NATO members are ready to transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This became indirect evidence of some behind-the-scenes movements. And on January 25, the ABC TV channel, citing an unnamed source, announced that Kyiv would receive Abrams. And that means Leopards.
It soon became clear that this was indeed the case. European media spread Scholz’s statement about his readiness to supply Ukraine with German tanks. The German Chancellor stressed that “this is the result of intensive consultations with Germany’s closest European and international partners.”
“This decision follows our well-known line of support for Ukraine to the best of our ability. We operate in close coordination at the international level,” Scholz said.
He promised to transfer 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the reserves of the Bundeswehr. This should happen in about three to four months. In addition, the German government made it clear that they no longer object to the transfer of Leopards to Ukraine by third countries.
Almost immediately after that, it became clear what was the formal reason for the change in Berlin’s position. Washington has indeed officially confirmed that it plans to transfer 31 Abrams to Kyiv. Joe Biden said that the United States intends to supply Ukraine with armored vehicles in the future to create two tank battalions. However, the White House made an important reservation – it would take months for the tanks to be delivered from across the ocean. Some publications, citing their sources, said that it could be a year.
The US decision is, without a doubt, cunning. Europe will send its Leopards to Ukraine in exchange for only a promise to send Abrams. If something goes wrong, the White House will calmly call it back, citing a change in circumstances.
To date, the bottom line, in addition to the hypothetical “Abrams” from the United States and the very real 14 “Leopards” from Germany, there are officially confirmed plans to transfer to the Kyiv regime 14 Polish “Leopards” of the 2A4 modification and 14 British main battle tanks Challenger 2.
In addition, the governments of Norway, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark spoke about plans to equip the Armed Forces of Ukraine with heavy armored vehicles. Olaf Scholz said that NATO members will soon provide Ukraine with about 80 tanks, and some media outlets suggest that Kyiv can receive from 100 to 130 modern vehicles.
Most countries want to supply Ukraine with Leopards in the old 2A4 modification, developed back in the 1980s. However, Sweden is ready to share the 2A5 modification, and Germany and Portugal – 2A6. It is possible that Denmark will provide the Kyiv regime with even the latest 2A7.
It is clear that such a transfer of armored vehicles is designed to free Europe’s warehouses from surplus obsolete weapons and stimulate the development of the military-industrial complex.
“The supply of more modern heavy armored vehicles is a logical consequence of the policy of the United States and allies to strengthen the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the face of the need for a counteroffensive and a shortage of Soviet-made weapons. Yes, in some cases it is outdated, but this should not be misleading, since our troops also use tanks of the Soviet military-industrial complex. By spring-summer, two combat-ready corps with a large number of armored vehicles and the latest artillery systems may appear in the ranks of the Ukrainian army”, the Rybar telegram channel writes.
Many Russian military correspondents emphasize that the supply of Western tanks will strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Kyiv can use this equipment in an attempted potential counteroffensive towards the Sea of Azov, which is predicted by many experts.
In the course of conflicts in the Middle East, heavy Western armored vehicles were effectively destroyed by anti-tank weapons, much less advanced than those currently used by the RF Armed Forces. Voenkor Yury Kotenok recommends saturating Russian infantry formations with conventional grenade launchers and purposefully teaching personnel to work on armored vehicles.
At the same time, military experts recall the expediency of blocking the transport communications of the Kyiv regime, through which NATO weapons are delivered from the western border of Ukraine to the line of contact.
In general, the decision on the supply of heavy armored vehicles by European countries to the Kyiv regime indicates that the destructive influence of the United States on the EU is increasing.
Under the most severe pressure from Washington, the German authorities made a decision that directly contradicts the national interests of their country and the will of the absolute majority of its population. On that day, 95% of the participants in a survey conducted in Germany by one of the radio stations spoke out against the transfer of tanks to Ukraine.
Svyatoslav Knyazev, Rubaltic.Ru
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