In a major reversal following Chancellor Olaf Scholz only days ago voicing strong resistance, it appears Berlin has bowed to the mounting pressure among allies and approved new tank deliveries to Ukraine from Germany’s own stock, which Scholz had previously said was depleted.
The German Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday that delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine has been approved. As part of Scholz’s earlier rejection of sending heavy weapons systems, he had cited the potential for the West and Russia sliding into a WW3 and nuclear war scenario.
Axios reports that “The new shipment of the German-made Flakpanzer Gepard was announced by Germany’s Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht during a meeting with more than 30 defense officials from dozens of NATO and non-NATO countries at Ramstein Air Base.”
Among the officials there at Ramstein for the meeting which was focused on how to help Ukraine defeat the Russian invasion were US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – the latter fresh off his trip with Secretary of State Blinken to Kiev where they met with President Zelensky. Representing Ukraine at the Ramstein meeting was Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
As for Scholz’s prior very clearly articulated warnings against sending items like tanks direct from Germany to the Ukrainians, here’s what he told Spiegel in an interview published only last Friday…
“We need to do everything to avoid a direct military confrontation between NATO and a heavily armed superpower such as Russia, a nuclear power,” the chancellor said at the time. “I will do everything to avoid an escalation that could lead to World War III – there can be no nuclear war.”
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht made the announcement at Ramstein…
Germany plans to offer artillery systems training to Ukrainian troops on German soil, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said during a US-hosted defense conference.
She also hailed Germany's decision to send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine as progress:pic.twitter.com/rUjJaELFoN
— DW News (@dwnews) April 26, 2022
“That’s why it is all the more important that we consider each step very carefully and coordinate closely with one another,” Scholz had stressed.
He added: “To avoid an escalation towards NATO is a top priority for me,” and “That’s why I don’t focus on polls or let myself be irritated by shrill calls. The consequences of an error would be dramatic.” But given this fresh reversal it seems he did in fact, in his own prior words, let himself “get irritated by shrill calls”.
And certainly the risks he previously laid out haven’t suddenly or somehow become mitigated, given Monday’s alarming comments out of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said the risk of nuclear war remains a “serious, real” danger and that “we must not underestimate it.”
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply