If all goes as well as Volodymyr Zelensky hopes, by the summer he will have one of largest, most potent tank armies in the world. He has asked for 300 battle tanks in order to launch counterattacks against the coming Russian offensive, punch holes in Russian-occupied territory and drive the invaders back to the border.
The Leopard tanks are expected from Poland, Finland, Netherlands, Australia, Spain and, now, Germany itself. Although each consignment will be relatively modest at first – Germany is despatching 14 out of hundreds in reserve – together they will comprise a formidable force. They will likely be joined by a few British Challenger 2s and French Leclercs. The US has also pledged to send 31 M1 Abrams. After a period when Nato was divided on the issue of supplying new materiel, once again the alliance has pulled together and rallied its friends across the world to the defence of a small nation fighting for its freedom. The total may not sum to 300, but they may well prove sufficient against the Russian counterparts.
Chancellor Scholz and his colleagues deserve the thanks of the whole world for their contribution to the security of independent nations everywhere. It has been a painful decision for their country to change course so rapidly and decisively, and one that has been forced upon them. The Kremlin, opening up the deepest of wounds, accuse Berlin of abandoning its “historical responsibility” to Russia by sending tanks to Kyiv. But this is not 1914 or 1941, and who is the fascistic aggressor preying on its smaller neighbours today?
