In recent weeks Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been criticised over his delay to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, but this week Germany announced it would send 14 tanks. US President Joe Biden also approved sending 31 M2 Abrams tanks as part of a “united” front with Western allies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reportedly counted the delay in sending the Leopard 2 tanks as a victory, despite facing criticism from other international countries.
Chancellor Scholz said: “It was right that we didn’t let ourselves be pushed around.
“Trust me, by acting as part of an international alliance we have diminished the risk that this support could have had.”
However, one German politician has said the decision may now make Germany seem like an “unreliable partner” on the international stage and the decision should have been made “weeks ago”.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of Germany’s Defense committee, has accused the Chancellor of being a “catastrophe of communication”.
She said: “You need to tell people why you do something and why you don’t. Otherwise people get suspicious,
“Work will now have to be done on reassuring other countries that Germany is in fact a reliable partner.”
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Chancellor Scholz is said to have made it clear during a phone call with President Biden that he would only be sending military aid to Ukraine if the US did so at the same time.
It was reported that the US was hesitant to send their own M2 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as their weight might be more of an inconvenience than a help on the battlefield.
However, reports have stated that President Biden overrode the advice of the US Defence Department to deploy the tanks to Ukraine.
It is not been stated why Germany requested the US to send tanks at the same time they did, but local German media has said it may be due to feats Russia would single Germany out if they made the tank announcement without the US.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported there were concerns among Germany’s politicians that Russia may target a gas pipeline or attempt to create a new refugee crisis.
German politician Nils Schmidn has said there was “no hard condition” placed on the US by Germany to send tanks, however, Mr Schmidn confirmed they would have only delivered tanks if the US agreed to as well.
