At a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group in Ramstein, the US announced $675 million in arms aid to Kyiv. Germany and the Netherlands want to train minesweepers. However, the West does not appear to be ready to supply battle tanks from its own production.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin addresses a news conference September 8, 2022 at Ramstein Air Force Base.
It had recently become quiet about new military and financial aid for Ukraine. Several Western countries had promised the government in Kyiv just 1.5 billion euros between July and August. Compared to all previous support commitments (the Kiel Institute for the World Economy has given the sum of 84.2 billion euros since January) was hardly worth mentioning.
But now Ukraine should be able to hope for more help again – this message came from a meeting of the so-called Ukraine contact group on Thursday, which has brought together ministers and military representatives from around 50 countries since the outbreak of war. For the second time, the USA had invited its allies to the American Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Kudos to the British
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged a new $675 million arms package to Ukraine at the meeting. One does not want to accept “living in a world in which great powers are trampling down borders with violence,” he said, referring to Russia. At the same time, Austin listed what his country had already sent to Kyiv: including Stinger anti-aircraft systems, armored personnel carriers, grenade launchers, helicopters, protective vests and millions of rounds of ammunition for small arms.
Austin also acknowledged the performance of some NATO allies, such as that of the British, which had already delivered a second batch of M270 multiple rocket launchers. Or that of the Poles, who, among other things, had transferred 155-millimeter howitzers to Ukraine for three battalions. Austin thanked the Germans and Danes for “announcing significant military aid packages.” If you wanted, you could hear the tip to follow up the announcement with action.
What the defense minister didn’t mention in his list of military aids were main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles for Ukraine, although these are at the top of the wish list in Kyiv. Experts point out that the attacked country urgently needs armored vehicles to protect its soldiers during the counteroffensive. An advance without tanks in a level steppe landscape, as is common in southern Ukraine, is considered extremely risky.
So far, however, neither the United States, nor Germany, nor France have delivered Western-style tanks to Ukraine. Instead, Germany is trying – with a rather disappointing record – to help in the so-called ring swap format, where countries like the Czech Republic move old Soviet ones to Ukraine, and Germany then fills in those gaps with modern tanks.
No Leopard 2 for the time being
In Ramstein, the German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht promised to deliver at least the anti-aircraft tanks Gepard and bridge-laying tanks Biber, which had been promised months ago, “immediately”. However, the German coalition government continues to block the delivery of the Leopard 2 main battle tank.
Lambrecht and her Dutch counterpart Kajsa Ollongren announced on Thursday that they would jointly train Ukrainian soldiers in clearing land mines and removing booby traps. According to Lambrecht, there should be a place for about 20 soldiers in the explosive ordnance defense school in Stetten am Kalten Markt (Baden-Württemberg). Germany and the Netherlands had already worked together to deliver self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine and jointly deployed Patriot missiles to Slovakia.