A German defense company has also reached an agreement with Kyiv to create a joint venture to manufacture and repair tanks in Ukraine.
Germany, which has taken in about a million Ukrainian refugees, has come under Western criticism for initially refusing to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, before becoming one of the biggest arms suppliers and money to Ukraine.
According to German and Russian experts, who spoke to Sky News Arabia, Western pressure on Berlin to supply arms to Kiev made Berlin acquiesce, and these deals allowed it to win over other European powers such as than France.
The result of German support for Ukraine
And Germany, which currently ranks third among supporters after America and Britain, has so far backed Kyiv, as follows:
• More than 100 “Leopard 1A5” combat tanks
• 14 ultra-modern “Leopard 2A6” tanks.
• Training of 1,200 Ukrainians on different weapons systems.
• Military hospital equipment, hospital beds, forklifts and jamming devices.
• Modern air defense anti-aircraft weapons, such as the Iris-TSLM, and 30 “Gibard” anti-aircraft tanks.
• 40 Marder armored personnel carriers and 5 “Mars-2” missile systems.
• 41 self-propelled guns, model 2000.
Provides Ukraine with ammunition, spare parts and tank maintenance.
• The latest assistance included 30 “Leopard 1” tanks, 15 “Gibard” anti-aircraft armored vehicles, 200 reconnaissance drones and 4 additional “Iris-T” anti-aircraft systems.
It changes the balance of power
For its part, the British newspaper “The Guardian” praised the German position, noting in an article by writer John Kempner that German support has become of paramount importance in resolving the war between the Russian and Ukrainian sides. .
He pointed out that Germany’s change of position comes in the wake of tensions in relations between the two countries last autumn, in the context of Berlin’s refusal not only to provide Ukraine with what it has need for advanced German Leopard tanks, but also its refusal to re-export them to Ukraine via other countries.
He attributed the reason for the sudden change to Boris Pistoris assuming the post of Minister of Defense in Germany, who is making strenuous efforts to ensure that Germany occupies the position of the largest player among NATO countries in the military fields.
Support or abuse?
Germany preceded the visit of the Ukrainian president by announcing a major aid program, including the German company “Rheinmetall” announcing the creation of a joint venture with the Ukrainian public group “Ukroboronprom” to build and repair tanks in Ukraine.
The agreement to establish the project is expected to be concluded at the end of June and operations will begin in mid-July this year. The German project with Ukraine includes the following elements:
Maintenance and repair of vehicles transported from Germany to Ukraine.
• Production of up to 400 modern Panther tanks per year.
Aims at possible joint development of military systems exported from Ukraine.
The cost of the plant will be around 200 million euros.
Rheinmetall will sign two more contracts for munitions and air defense projects in the coming days with Ukraine.
And the German company has taken advantage of increased defense spending since the war in Ukraine, and Germany bowed to pressure from Washington to agree to help Kyiv.
German expert Oliver Moody claims that Berlin has been under heavy Western pressure until the German army’s ammunition stocks have run out after they have been injected into the Ukrainian forces, and that Berlin needs 20 billion euros to compensate for this loss.
The conflict in Ukraine has depleted warehouses across Europe.
• The scale of the problem in Germany is more acute due to the reduction in funding for the German military for years before the Ukraine crisis.
• Admittedly, the company has benefited from higher defense spending since the war in Ukraine.
As for the Russian expert, Vladimir Igor, he asserts that the NATO countries exerted strong pressure on Germany to support Ukraine.
The focus on Germany comes from the fact that it ranks third after Washington and London in aid to Ukraine.
• Berlin’s hesitation is due to fear of Russia’s reaction and the impact of relations between the two countries.
• America puts pressure on allied countries in the Ukrainian and Taiwanese crises, two weak points for Germany, which has developed serious partnerships with Moscow and Beijing in areas such as the economy and energy.
• Germany does not seem able to get rid of these partnerships in the short term and is therefore forced to submit to Washington.
Berlin is under intense pressure from Washington, which is threatening to withdraw its support for European security if Berlin does not align itself with it on Russia and China.
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