Weapons deliveries at Lanz
“What he didn’t say was very interesting”
By Marko Schlichting
4/20/2022 5:03 am
Ukraine calls for heavy weapons, but Chancellor Scholz remains vague. At a press conference, he announced financial aid to strengthen the Ukrainian army – but he didn’t elaborate on what that would look like. The FDP defense politician Strack-Zimmermann would like clearer communication, which she makes clear with Markus Lanz.
The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has entered a new phase. The fighting is now mainly concentrated in the east of the country. The port city of Mariupol also continues to be contested. Ukraine is calling for heavy weapons, but parts of the federal government have difficulty with the demand. With “Markus Lanz” on ZDF there was clear criticism of statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which he made at a press conference on Tuesday.
In his statement, Scholz announced financial aid for Ukraine, but without saying when it would be made available. Germany will continue to deliver weapons and coordinate with all allies. In addition, the Ukrainian government can compile weapons from a list of the industry. We will then take care of the financing. Scholz spoke of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition. When asked by a journalist whether Germany would also supply heavy weapons, he remained very vague. “Our unity is our weapon,” said Scholz literally. He also promised to “train” the Ukrainian army so that it could defend itself against the Russian aggressor.
“It was a verbal shell game”
The chairwoman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, had criticized Olaf Scholz’s announcements as “too vague” shortly after his statement on Twitter. With Markus Lanz it became more concrete. “It was a verbal shell game,” said the FDP politician. Scholz answered a very specific question “very clearly”. What was interesting, however, was what he didn’t say: He didn’t say the word “tank” or talk about heavy weapons, only about “weapons with an effect,” Strack-Zimmermann stated. The good news is at least that Scholz wants to ask the Eastern European countries to deliver weapons of old design to Ukraine, which should then be compensated from the West. These systems could operate the Ukrainian soldiers without additional training.
At the same time, Strack-Zimmermann criticized the Chancellor’s communication. In his statement, he explained that the industrialized countries of the world would look to Germany and act in the same way. “That’s not the case, because then the world would do very little,” said the FDP politician. In addition, Germany is already delivering arms to Ukraine, but it shouldn’t be discussed. “This communication leads to this booming silence and the saying that we are weak and don’t have the verve that other countries have. We always have a kind of rearguard action. I very much regret that,” said Strack-Zimmermann.
In view of the murders in Ukraine and the current Russian offensive, heavy weapons are now needed. “We have now reached a point where we have to position ourselves and where our values are at stake, freedom, democracy and human rights. The chancellor is positioning himself, he wants to preserve these values. But you have to fight for them, you get them not given.”
“Putin knocked over the chessboard”
The former German ambassador in Moscow, Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch, agrees. He also complained to Markus Lanz that Germany put itself in a bad light. “We’ve done a lot in the past,” he said, naming development aid projects for Ukraine as an example. Germany had also achieved that Russian gas supplies continued through the country. Now the situation has changed and the federal government must say what goals it is now pursuing. “The world is rearranging itself. Putin knocked over the chessboard in the middle of the game. This means that neither the rules of chess nor the moves we made before have gone wrong,” said the diplomat. However, the Russian President has now led the western world into a situation of confrontation and has destroyed dialogue. That’s why we now have to state clearly how we want to deal with countries like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
Military expert Christian Mölling has already made a concrete proposal. He assumes that the war in Ukraine could last a very long time, maybe even up to five years. That’s why it’s wrong to only drive on sight and come up with new strategies every two weeks. Mölling finds it important to plan arms deliveries in the long term. Then you could also take the time to train Ukrainian soldiers on western weapon systems.