DGermany is 150 percent on the side of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Baerbock has assured recently. In Kyiv and probably also in Moscow, the percentage is estimated to be somewhat lower. Because when it comes to arms support, the Scholz government is not fulfilling the greatest wish of the Ukrainians: the delivery of German battle tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The Ukrainian army has only outdated models, many of which have already been destroyed. With modern tanks, the Ukrainians could push their offensive much more powerfully and more extensively. That, of course, is the reason why the high percentage of German support to Ukraine in the case of main battle tanks is zero percent.
Berlin fears that excessive Ukrainian victories against the Russian invaders could propel Putin to escalate the war, either by using weapons of mass destruction or by attacking a NATO member. The Americans also think this is possible, which is why they have not yet given the Ukrainians any battle tanks.
Should Putin’s rule in Ukraine bleed to death?
It is undoubtedly true that Berlin is also coordinating closely with Washington on this issue and is not going it alone. But the Western allies must also ask each other why they are supporting the Ukrainians. Should they only be allowed to liberate so much of their country that the aggressor does not feel too humiliated? And only at the pace of the current advance, which can falter again at any time? Should Putin be bound on the Ukrainian battlefield so that his rule there bleeds to death?
Nothing is said about this from the federal government, although Defense Minister Lambrecht has now declared that Germany must assume the role of leading military power. But the country need not be afraid of this. That sounds a little like whistling in the traffic light forest. In him, many words are greater than deeds, estimated by at least 50 percent.
