Leopard tank: A former NATO Secretary General regrets Germany’s “hesitance”
Germany’s “reluctance” to authorize the shipment of Leopard heavy tanks to Ukraine “allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase the intensity of the war without consequences,” says former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a interview granted to the BBC.
“I see no logical argument to justify German hesitation. (…) We should not give Putin time to develop new murderous strategies. So we have to put the Russians on the defensive,” he recommends.
“For too long we have pursued what I would call a bureaucratic strategy of incrementally increasing arms supplies when Putin opted for dominance, and that incremental strategy must now be replaced with a surprise strategy to ensure that Ukrainians get the.” Putting the Russians on the defensive. »
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who led the Danish government alongside NATO, also supports the establishment of a no-fly zone. “We must now close the skies over Ukraine to protect the population. (…) We must therefore supply anti-aircraft, anti-missile, anti-drone and long-range missiles to hit the Russian launchers. Also, we need to supply heavy main battle tanks to give the Ukrainians the opportunity to regain lost ground,” he adds.