Democrats and Republicans in the USA are arguing heatedly about military aid for Ukraine, which expires on New Year's Eve. This increases the pressure on Berlin immensely.
Washington – The news from Ukraine on December 29th could not be more symbolic just before New Year's Eve. Russia has carried out the heaviest air strikes on its neighbor since the attack, which violated international law, began. A signal from Moscow? While Washington hesitates?
Ukraine war: USA withholds billions of dollars in military aid for Kiev
On Wednesday (December 27th), the USA released its last military aid for the government in Kiev amounting to $250 million, shortly before the Ukrainian capital was heavily bombed during the night and morning of Friday. And not just her.
Once again, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his compatriots must count the deaths and damage from barbaric attacks on civilians and infrastructure, while the United States is withholding $81 billion in aid because Republicans are blocking it in Congress. IPPEN.MEDIA explains what consequences this blockade in the Ukraine war has for Germany.
USA hesitates about aid to Ukraine: European NATO partners strengthen eastern flank
NATO eastern flank: The European partners in the NATO defense alliance have significantly increased their efforts to secure the eastern flank. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) recently signed a paper with his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas that obliges Germany to station a combat brigade with 4,800 Bundeswehr soldiers in the Baltic country by 2027.
In Lithuania, German troops are already in command enhanced forward presence (eFP) Lithuania, a multinational NATO organization with 1,600 soldiers. As early as January, Spain wants to send 600 soldiers to Slovakia – months earlier than planned – in a kind of quick action – including Leopard 2 tanks. That eastern flank has so far relied on the great commitment of the Americans.
Of the estimated 40,000 NATO soldiers between the Baltics and Romania (the respective national armed forces are not taken into account), only in Poland are there more than 10,000 US soldiers. If Republican Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November 2024, he is expected to greatly neglect foreign policy in keeping with his “America first” motto. And with that NATO commitments?
Without the USA: Germany would have to increase air defense for Ukraine
Ukraine's air defense: Recently there have been increasing reports that the Ukrainians will run out of ammunition for air defense in the medium term without US aid. This is likely to be primarily about the “Patriot” anti-aircraft missile system. It is believed that the Ukrainian armed forces shot down three Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers in just one day on December 22nd with such “Patriot” missiles.
“Maternity hospital, educational institutes, shopping mall, high-rise buildings, residential buildings, commercial warehouses, parking lot. Kiev, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and other cities. “Today Russia fought with almost everything it had in its arsenal,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post about the Russian missile attacks on December 29th.
Germany has Kiev for air defense according to the list of military support services from the federal government To date, 52 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, three state-of-the-art IRIS-T SLM air defense systems and two of the aforementioned “Patriot” systems have been delivered. If the Americans leave, Germany would be left almost alone as the main supplier.
Military aid for Ukraine: Ammunition deliveries from the Americans are likely to stop
Tanks and artillery ammunition for Ukraine: The traffic light federal government has so far delivered 80 “Marder” armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian army. In November, Ukraine received ten renovated Leopard 1A5s, making 30 in number. But: The Federal Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands are actually planning to make a total of 195 “Leos” 1 available. 110 prepared Leopard 1A5 tanks alone are expected to come from Germany.
The Federal Ministry of Defense originally planned to provide 80 of these “Leos” by the end of 2023. As of December 31st, this goal will be missed dramatically. After all, the German arms company Rheinmetall announced that it would be able to produce an additional 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks for the Ukrainian armed forces next year on behalf of the Danish and Dutch governments.
However, these examples show: Germany remains the number one tank supplier. This will soon also apply to artillery ammunition. When Pistorius announced military aid worth 1.3 billion euros on November 21, the defense minister announced 140,000 grenades of the NATO standard 155 millimeter caliber for the coming year. The largest supplier of the bullets has actually been the USA – so far.
Ukraine aid without the USA: NATO partners expect leadership from Germany
Leadership role among NATO partners: Kiev has been begging Berlin for “Taurus” cruise missiles for months. Example: The Ukrainian air force destroyed the Russian landing ship “Novocherkassk” in Crimea before New Year’s Eve. Cruise missiles of the British type “Storm Shadow” or the French “Scalp” were apparently used.
The “Taurus” is similar to these weapons and could probably be used in the near future. The Balts in particular are continually pushing the Germans to play a stronger leadership role. And Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter, among others, is calling on the traffic light coalition to deliver the cruise missiles. Without the Americans, the pressure on Berlin to send new signals of support would be enormous. Through the “Taurus”? (pm)
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