AT LAST, GERMANY HAS UNCAGED ITS LEOPARDS

Germany’s hesitation over the tanks was caused by more than just the weight of history. The logic in Berlin seemed to be that too much military assistance from the West to Ukraine could provoke Vladimir Putin to become even nastier.

- John Dobson

After weeks of deliberation and intense international pressure, Chancellor Olaf Scholz finally announced last Wednesday that Germany will be sending muchneeded Leopard 2 tanks to help Ukraine in its efforts to defend itself against Russian aggression. For months, NATO had appeared to be in disarray because of Germany’s vacillations. Just days before the announcement, there had been a meeting of NATO and defence leaders from 50 countries, held at the American Air Base in Ramstein, Germany. This was the latest in a series of arms-pledging conferences since Russia invaded 11 months ago, and European leaders had pressed Germany to give the green light for delivery of the Germanmade tanks to Ukraine to drive back Russia’s forces. Discussions had been taking place for weeks between the defence ministers, and many had expected an agreement at the meeting. But, no. All Germany could say at the time came from its defence minister, Boris Pistorius: ‘There are good reasons for the deliveries, and there are good reasons against them. ‘All pros and cons must be weighed very carefully’, he added, without elaborating on these reasons.