More weapons and ammunition for Ukraine to face the Russian offensive and for as long as necessary, but no date for its entry into NATO. The defense ministers of the countries that provide military aid to Ukraine, the so-called Ramstein Contact Group, in reference to the US airbase in that German city, where they meet, reacted this Friday with lengthy statements made the day before by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kiev. “All the allies agree. Ukraine has the right to a place in NATO,” said the Norwegian. From Budapest, Prime Minister Viktor Orban reacted via twitter with a simple “What?” In Moscow, the response was as expected: “Obviously, NATO is on its way to gobble up Ukraine and draw it into the alliance,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Stoltenberg qualified his words upon his arrival in Ramstein, but the commotion caused among the allies and in Russia was already done. “The priority now is for Ukraine to win the war because if it does not assert itself as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe, there is no point in talking about membership,” said the top leader of the Atlantic Alliance.
President Volodimir Zelenski, has mobilized his allies and put all the meat on the grill to receive an invitation to join at the NATO summit in Lithuania in July. But there will be no such gesture. “Germany has never criticized NATO membership, but this is not the time to discuss it,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, for whom before Ukraine can become a NATO member “there is a long way to go “.
The only question now on the table is how to proceed in supporting Ukraine and to what extent the demands of Zelensky can be met, who, having already crossed many red lines, calls for long-range weapons, anti-aircraft systems, modern aviation, artillery and armored vehicles. more powerful.
The allies, however, follow their own times. The German government, for example, has so far refused to hand over obsolete Tornados or Eurofighters, pointing out that Ukrainian forces are not trained to operate these planes. An alternative for Ukraine would be American F16 fighters, but no country has gone from readiness to delivery. Ukraine has so far only received Soviet MI-19 models.
On the German side there will be no Tornados and Eurofighters, even if they are obsolete, because they have completely different capabilities than what is needed in Ukraine and because Germany needs Tornados for the so-called nuclear sharing, that is, the transport of US nuclear bombs in case of crisis.
The only new thing that Ukraine has achieved from the Ramstein meeting is an agreement between Germany and Poland for the opening in the latter country of a maintenance center for Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Leopard main battle tanks and Panzerhaubitze artillery pieces. 2000. The cost of this macro-workshop will be between 250 and 200 million annually.
“Germany keeps its word,” Pistorius stressed, recalling that 18 Leopard 2A6 battle tanks, 40 Marder tanks, as well as large packages of spare material and ammunition, were delivered in bundle alone. Up to 80 Leopard A15 cars will be delivered by mid-year. Starting this Saturday, a hundred Ukrainian soldiers will receive training for their management in Germany.
The United States will also take a step in the training of soldiers. In the coming weeks it will send Abrams tanks, equivalent to Leopards, to its bases in Germany so that Ukrainian troops can train in their handling. There is no date for the supply of Abrams to Ukraine, but US aid is already arriving and it is enormous. According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, since the war began, his country has delivered more than $35 billion worth of material to Ukraine. “This help makes all the difference on the battlefield. Ukraine is stronger than ever and its troops are motivated. Russia, by contrast, lacks leadership and strategy. Their setbacks on the ground are enormous,” Austin said.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
