Have a good evening.
That Pistorius excuse, ‘we have to check inventory first’…Sigh…Off to a cracking start.
Still fuming, so posting some fumes.
https://twitter.com/Mij_Europe/status/1616522651643650048?cxt=HHwWgIC96a6yhe8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/patrickwintour/status/1616494345300938767?cxt=HHwWnsC4kdzC-O4sAAAA
https://twitter.com/ronzheimer/status/1616456443863142406?cxt=HHwWjMDUtcik5-4sAAAA
https://twitter.com/Marco_UKII/status/1616547777097486339?cxt=HHwWhsC-he7okO8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/EHunterChristie/status/1616570934558588930?cxt=HHwWhICwyeasm-8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/andersostlund/status/1616540299744120832?cxt=HHwWgMDQtc-1je8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/Seveerity/status/1616497117379366916?cxt=HHwWiMC43Ynk-e4sAAAA
https://twitter.com/WarintheFuture/status/1616542433101381634
Like @RedWhippet said, volunteer nations will start training Ukrainians on Leopards now or quite soon. Germany not part of this obviously.
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1616543849933082624?cxt=HHwWgMDUsaKEj-8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1616553381996240899?cxt=HHwWhoC95Y2vk-8sAAAA
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1616553384160501761
1 hr 11 min ago
Ukrainian ambassador: “We need these tanks now”
From CNN’s Matt Meyer
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States (CNN)
“Time is of the essence” in getting Western tanks into Ukraine before Russia launches an anticipated spring offensive, a top Ukrainian diplomat told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday.
“We need these tanks now,” said Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.
The tanks are “very much needed now, so that our brave defenders can be protected. So we can maneuver, we can fire and actually we can go back on the counteroffensive and we can preempt this future attacks Russia is actually planning to expand during the spring,” Markarova said.
Germany has so far failed to reach an agreement with its key Western allies on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite growing pressure to step up its military aid and pleas from Kyiv for more weapons.
Germany has denied claims it is dragging its feet and has called on the US to send its own tanks to Ukraine.
Blitzer asked Markarova about the US government’s argument that its M1 Abrams tanks would be more difficult to operate and maintain — and therefore less helpful — than the German Leopards.
“Of course we are consulting with our partners, ‘What will be the most effective one? What can we get in large numbers, maintain on the battlefield, repair if necessary?’” the ambassador said.
“It looks like the Leopard is something that a number of allies are ready to discuss with us, have in quantity and would be a little bit easier to maintain and repair,” Markarova said. “But again, as we discussed … there is no discussion that is not being held at the moment.”
Despite concerns over the delivery of Western tanks, the ambassador opened her discussion with Blitzer by thanking the US for its latest aid package and other allies for all of their military support
I forgotv to post this because of all the politics, but a couple of days ago it was revealed that North Kofrea has started to send trains to Russia and that PMC Wagner are offloading them. Ammo.
Dr, Cirincione and dr. Lewis are usually my go to guys when it comes to nuclear deterrence.
A contrarian view worth reading by Acton. The man is very, very smart so its hardly nonsense what he writes, but there are different opinions among experts on this. Acton himself is definately one expert himself though.
https://en.rattibha.com/thread/1616087242329493504
A former colleague currently serving at NATO in Brussels texted me this comment:
“Maybe Germany is waiting on a deal with Russia to divide Poland”
The German officers at NATO HQ are visibly humiliated now.
I think there are two possibilites which might explain German intransigence over the Leopards ;
-
The German govt. is harbouring the fantasy that once the conflict reaches some sort of conclusion ( and presumably their reluctance to help force the issue in Ukraine’s favour means their expectation is of a frozen conflict and negotiations) that normal relations with Russia will somehow resume , as if nothing had happened , and German industry will reap the benefits.
-
Russia has transmitted to Germany some type of threat or ultimatum that Scholz is taking seriously enough to give him serious pause for thought.
Scholz has to be convinced that things will never be the same again and that he has the chance , if he acts now , to put Germany on the right side of history
Or he’s just a weak and indecisive leader.
I reckon they will get sent with or without his approval, which is even worse for him.
Both Scholz and Merkel have proven to be timid and weak when it comes to dealing with Russia and Putin. They had no problem bullying and fleecing the South during the debt crisis in a despicable self-serving manner but now when it’s time to step up, they cower and hide behind flimsy excuses.
The events since February 2022 have shown that there is a tremendous leadership deficit in the EU’s most powerful country, almost on par with the one in the UK, which would be unfathomable to contemplate before. Where have the Adenauers, the Brandts and the Kohls gone?
I look at this (Germany’s reluctance here) through two lenses:
- They are super reluctant to fund/perpetuate any sort of war based on past experience
- their calculation is that this wont be decisive
- it pushes Russia to more desperation
- the human cost
- There is a sort of a perverse “gentleman’s” mind set of “you had a couple of rounds of argy-bargy, now shake on it and move on”…
The second bit is the bit I struggle with - “some men you just can’t reach”, and by extension, some situations just don’t have solutions. In such situations you have to make a decision that is imperfect.
p.s. appreciate that this is my viewpoint and not a slight or response to more informed view points. p.s.s. there is a third option, which is that Russia have indicated a “peace” that they can live with - this falls back to points 1 and 2 and the parable of fox and scorpion… and that Germany is being played
I’ve noticed quite a few German politicians, including those in government, have been speaking out about this.
Article (in English) in Deutsche Welle here:
My suspicion is still that there is something else going on here. The lack of a meaningful statement from NATO and the fact that the Americans appear to be staying quiet seems to indicate that not every party is revealing their hand in public. Quite why that would be remains to be seen but if someone was being unreasonably obstructive they would have been slapped down behind the scenes.
I think that’s it. It’s no haphazard imo that Putin started his ‘special military operation’ after Merkel retired, and not before.
Had she still been at the helm instead of that increasingly slimy worm, German Leopards would already fight in Ukraine as we speak, had Putin still dared to make his move.