The Times: Washington's maneuvers to send German tanks to Kyiv revealed Europe's continued dependence on it

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Once again, the dependence of Europe and the NATO countries on the United States appears, through what the British newspaper The Times described as diplomatic maneuvers and a case of back-and-forth regarding sending German Leopard tanks to Kyiv, which ended, as expected, with Berlin yielding to Washington's wishes and risking its relations with Russia.

The newspaper said: The Abrams tanks, which the US administration promised to send to Kyiv, to satisfy Germany and reassure it about its move to supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks, will not arrive in the country before several months have passed, but despite this fact, Washington's decision to send its tanks was a decisive element in a well-studied diplomatic dance. , opened the way for the flow of Western heavy weapons to the regime in Kyiv.

The newspaper pointed out that the country that has the most suitable tanks for Ukraine is Germany, which supplied the allies in NATO with Leopard 2 tanks, and they pressured it to obtain Berlin’s approval to transfer it to Kyiv, indicating that Germany, whose history in World War II is still a heavy burden on it, hesitated. To be the main supplier to Ukraine, for fear of exacerbating its relationship with Russia.

The US Department of Defense advised the Pentagon not to send Abrams tanks, which need maintenance and high supply and consume huge amounts of fuel, to Kyiv, and in tense talks with Washington, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz demanded that the United States send Abrams tanks, as a cover for the transfer of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The Times indicated that this German announcement prompted officials in Finland, the Netherlands and Spain to say: They too will send tanks to Ukraine, and training of Ukrainian tank crews will begin almost immediately in Germany.

The British newspaper stressed that these events reveal once again Europe's dependence on the United States to help Ukraine against Russia, and that it remains vulnerable to the fluctuations of American domestic politics, as the British government decided this month to send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery to Kyiv, to encourage European allies to increase Their support for Ukraine is in part due to concern that Biden will not be able to continue to win bipartisan support for the flow of billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv.

European allies see, according to the newspaper, that the conflict in Ukraine revealed the failure of the European continent to develop what French President Emmanuel Macron calls strategic self-reliance despite fear, after former US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from NATO, and Germany was forced to travel a long distance in its view. strategy since the start of the Ukrainian crisis.

Basma Kannon

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