Even in chaos, the message eventually becomes a unified message.
After weeks of Poland and other NATO members publicly pressured Germany to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, the US and some of its EU allies appear to be finally sending armor to the front lines – something unthinkable just a few months ago A move against Russia’s line.
It was a momentary decision, Part of the reason is that these — unlike air defense systems or anti-tank missiles — are not defensive weapons. Like previous artillery and rocket systems, they are designed to inflict heavy losses on Russian forces during a ground offensive. But unlike those systems, they make it clear that Ukraine wants to take back territory. It’s new, it’s intense, and it paints a picture of a fearless NATO.
The joint U.S.-European decision to send tanks to Ukraine is not as inflexible a democracy as it might appear.
During the weeks of debate and entanglement surrounding Berlin’s reluctance to aid Kyiv, some in Moscow will hear something different than disunity: The West is considering sending its most aggressive armor to a country it doesn’t think is even suited to The country that was seriously discussing NATO membership a year ago.
A large NATO alliance with a diverse history will always have some disagreement over how to handle Europe’s largest land battle since World War II.
Poland experienced Soviet mastery, Many of its citizens remember what that version of Russian imperialism felt like. Germany – under the Nazis – let its tanks loose for the last time in some of the worst bloodshed on the continent. Many senior figures in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) have dangerous ties to the Kremlin. It would be remarkable if these European powers agreed on this fight from day one.
But plans to send 30 mostly token Abrams tanks to Ukraine gave Germany enough courage to drop its opposition to the Leopard, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations. It provides an umbrella for NATO operations, even if it takes months or even years to get the logistically complex American main battle tanks to work.
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