The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

German weapons for Ukraine: Next fiasco looming — deal could fail completely

2022-07-21T03:53:08.058Z


German weapons for Ukraine: Next fiasco looming — deal could fail completely Created: 07/21/2022 05:23 By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi Is the ring exchange with Poland now failing? © dpa In the Ukraine war, Germany is threatened with another fiasco in arms deliveries to Kyiv. The expected exchange of rings with Poland is apparently about to fail. MUNICH — The Ukraine war is still in full swing and th


German weapons for Ukraine: Next fiasco looming — deal could fail completely

Created: 07/21/2022 05:23

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

Is the ring exchange with Poland now failing?

© dpa

In the Ukraine war, Germany is threatened with another fiasco in arms deliveries to Kyiv.

The expected exchange of rings with Poland is apparently about to fail.

MUNICH — The Ukraine war is still in full swing and there is no sign of an end to the war anytime soon, especially since Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has now announced an expansion of the geographical targets of the invasion.

In order to be able to defend itself against Russian ruler Vladimir Putin's war of aggression, Kyiv is heavily dependent on Western arms supplies.

Germany also wants to participate in the military aid.

With the so-called ring exchange procedure, this should actually be carried out quickly and largely without the risk of direct participation in the war.

As good as it may sound, the whole thing doesn't seem to be running as smoothly and easily as expected.

Ukraine-News: Ring exchange procedure for arms deliveries to Kyiv - Slovenia unsatisfied

The ring exchange procedure planned by the federal government is currently struggling with difficulties.

It's actually a pretty simple process.

Southern and Eastern European countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Greece have Soviet-made weapons in their military stocks - those that the Ukrainian military are already using and can therefore quickly integrate.

In the course of the ring exchange, the above-mentioned "exchange partners" are now supposed to deliver these weapons to Ukraine.

In return, Germany wants to replenish the inventories of these countries with new armaments - at least that's the plan.

For Germany, this is risk-free insofar as German tanks, for example, are not used in the Ukraine and direct participation in the war is therefore ruled out.

Nevertheless, Ukraine is being helped indirectly.

So far, however, not a single ring exchange has taken place.

Apparently, the exchange partners, who are supposed to deliver their Soviet-made weapons to Ukraine, are dissatisfied with the offers from the German side, as the

Tagesschau

reported.

A good example of why the ring exchange is not progressing is Slovenia.

For the delivery of T72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, the German offer was to replenish Slovenian stocks with the “Marder” infantry fighting vehicle and the “Fuchs” armored personnel carrier.

However, these are around 50 years old.

However, Slovenia is probably dreaming of the new infantry fighting vehicle "Puma" and the modern battle tank "Leopard".

The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope

View photo gallery

Ukraine News: Will the ring exchange with Poland fail?

- CDU politician reveals German offer

The ring exchange deal with Poland is now even threatening to fail completely, as reported by the

Tagesschau

, citing information from the

ARD capital

studio.

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Poland has been at the forefront when it comes to arms deliveries.

In the first two months, the country delivered 240 T-72 tanks to Ukraine.

As early as May, Poland's head of state Andrzej Duda complained that Germany would not deliver a replacement in the near future.

From Germany there is no "real offer that one could consider," the

daily news

quoted the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister from a recent interview.

Meanwhile, Poland turned to the United States and signed a deal to buy 116 Abrams tanks.

The first of these tanks have already been delivered.

also read

Putin's view of Ukraine "very exaggerated": military expert sees "first signs" of a radical step

Putin threatens "catastrophe": Now the ordeal in Germany begins

The offer from Berlin, on the other hand, apparently did not convince Warsaw.

The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter revealed which offer is involved.

According to him, the German government recently offered Poland 20 retreaded Leopard 2 tanks.

From April 2023, the federal government wants to deliver one tank a month and then three tanks a month from October, the Union politician said.

There is still hope for the ring exchange, because the negotiations have not yet officially ended.

How long and whether they can continue under the difficult circumstances is extremely questionable.

Should the exchange of rings with Poland fail, criticism of the traffic light coalition in the background of the Ukraine war will undoubtedly flare up again.

It recently came under pressure again because it refused the delivery of the “Fuchs” armored transport vehicle.

(bb)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-07-21

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-02T21:24:10.139Z
News/Politics 2024-03-09T13:58:44.425Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.