Western Tank Threats From Kremlin

After several weeks of procrastination, Germany and the United States gave the green light on Wednesday to the delivery of Leopard and Abrams tanks to Ukraine. “Berlin will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and accepts that they be re-exported to kyiv by partner countries,” announced German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. The expected announcement comes after repeated requests from Ukraine and pressure from other countries to allow such deliveries. In the process Washington confirmed the dispatch of 31 Abrams tanks.

Before Germany and the United States, the United Kingdom had taken the lead in promising such deliveries, while Poland was no longer waiting for the green light from Berlin to deliver heavy armor to Ukrainian forces. Now, a dozen European countries will send nearly a hundred Leopard 2s to Ukraine, in addition to those promised by London and Washington. France, for its part, applauded these decisions but did not follow suit. The question of the delivery of the Leclerc tanks should be decided in the coming days, but the Minister of the Armed Forces already made it clear yesterday on the set of C dans l’air l’Invité that the discussions with the Ukrainians today focused more on “the ground-to-air defense or artillery” than on Leclerc tanks.

Western Heavy Tanks

Moreover, after obtaining the promise of Western heavy tanks, the Ukrainian president raised the bar in his speech last night, calling for long-range missiles and combat aircraft to enable Ukraine to face to the next Russian offensives. Thanking all the allies “for their willingness to give us modern and indispensable tanks”, Volodymyr Zelensky also made a point of stressing that “the key” to overthrowing the Russian forces on the battlefield was “now the speed of deliveries and the volume support”. So how far will the allies go to help Ukraine?

After the announcement of the delivery of dozens of European and American tanks to kyiv, the Kremlin fired a new salvo of missiles against Ukraine, in particular on kyiv, and denounced the “direct involvement” of the West in the conflict in Ukraine. Neither France nor any of its partners are at war with Russia, replied the French Foreign Ministry, rejecting the comments made by Moscow.

But, in France, the debate intensifies on the question of arms deliveries. Marine Le Pen said she opposes sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, fearing an escalation in the conflict against Vladimir Putin. On the left, the communist Fabien Roussel asked him for a debate in Parliament, on France’s strategy in this conflict and the sending of heavy weapons. For his part, the Minister of the Army Sébastien Lecornu said he was in favor last night in C dans l’air, inviting him to a “global debate on the delivery of weapons, to reiterate how much there are those who want to help Ukraine and those who are a little embarrassed at the corners”.

But what material are we talking about? What could the deliveries of heavy tanks by several countries in the conflict change? What is the situation in Ukraine? Why did the Ukrainian president just fire more than ten senior politicians, including a member close to his cabinet? Finally, do we need a debate in Parliament on arms deliveries to Ukraine?

This article is originally published on france.tv