The West failed because of the decision to supply main battle tanks, with the US and Germany in particular blocking it. Berlin is playing for time but leaving all options open.
Ramstein/Berlin/Kiv. do they roll or don’t they roll? That was the big question on Friday before representatives of some 50 states and institutions that provide material support to Ukraine in the war against Russia met at a new summit at NATO’s large US air base in Ramstein (Rhineland-Palatinate). ).
In the afternoon it became clear: they are not rolling – yet. So those main battle tanks, mainly of the Leopard (Germany) and Abrams (USA) types, which Kyiv has been asking for almost desperately for months, but recently has been demanding more and more offensively. The new German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, who has been in office for a few days, has dodged the demands, which are also openly supported by Poland and Finland, for example. Apparently, he wants to buy time. Pistorius announced that the Leopard stocks of the Bundeswehr and armament companies (KMW, Rheinmetall) would be checked.
In addition, corresponding agreements with other states are needed (mainly Leopard operators such as Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland); there was no agreement and no unified position at the summit. If such a thing were to happen, a decision would certainly be made “very quickly”, Pistorius said. Only: “I don’t know how the decision will go.” However, Pistorius added something important: other states should, by all means, train Ukrainians in their Leos.