Ukraine and its allies, led by Germany and the United States, have once again demonstrated the resolve and unity called for in defending Ukraine against Putin's invasion.
Despite the inevitable noise surrounding major decisions, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will send German-licensed Leopard tanks to Ukraine, train the tankers, and has given their delivery free rein to NATO countries that own them and wish to supply them to the Ukrainian army to face the offensive that Putin is preparing for the end of winter.
It was a difficult decision, although necessary and obligatory.
Contracts for the sale of this type of weapons require the authorization of the manufacturing country when it comes to ceding them to third countries.
The German initiative will be followed by that of other countries, as the United States has already indicated, with its willingness to send Abrams armored vehicles, and Spain has also expressed the intention of doing the same.
A broad coalition of NATO partners will thus contribute to the formation of the Ukrainian mechanized force destined to defend itself against the Russian forces, and even to recover at least part of the eastern territory in the hands of Russia, until breaking through to the Sea of Azov and cut land communication with Crimea.
Military force is the necessary condition for any possible peace negotiation on favorable terms.
Once the shipment of the tanks to Ukraine is under way, the prudence shown by NATO, the Pentagon and the kyiv government in the face of deliberative slowness and Germany's vacillations makes sense.
The sharp criticism of the right-wing government in Warsaw for the delay in Berlin, in addition to being unfair, is detrimental to the image of unity and temperance that the coalition needs.
They respond to historical resentments that should be overcome and to the spurious interests of the ruling party, PiS (Law and Justice Party).
Underlying Ukraine's military objective is the will to turn the Crimean peninsula, unlikely to be recovered by force, into a territory that is impossible for Moscow to defend and manage, a situation that could lead the Kremlin to agree to a negotiation without conditions. with kyiv.
Otherwise, the war threatens to stalemate until the line of separation is established on the front and engenders a dangerous and huge frozen territory, as happened at the end of the Korean War in 1953. Such a situation would be totally undesirable for a Ukraine that wants to be and it would also be a defeat for the EU and for NATO.
But it would also be a terrible example with some implicit reward for the imposition of a new order resulting from military aggression.