main image
•
Ukrainian soldiers accept US supplies at Boryspil Airport.
•
(c) REUTERS (Valentyn Ogirenko)
Many were hesitant at first, but more than 30 countries are supplying Ukraine with weapons. The right decision? Discuss with us!
“We need more weapons”: This was often heard from Ukraine in the final weeks of the war. And the West is delivering. Armaments have arrived in Ukraine from at least 32 countries since the start of the war. Another 30 left in humanitarian aid (including Austria) Wolfgang Greber gives an overview.
In an analysis, Jürgen Streihammer traces how the attitude of some states towards the delivery of arms changed over the course of the war. At first, many balked, assuming that Moscow would quickly win. Things are different today: “Anti-tank weapons have become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. They helped repel the attack on Kiev. But now they are no longer enough.” That’s why the delivery of heavy weapons has also become an issue.
Let’s take a look at Germany: the country has made “the most incredible geopolitical turnaround since the fall of the Wall”, writes Berlin correspondent Christoph Zotter. “If you just look at the facts, you can see a German compromise with Ukraine that hardly anyone would have thought possible just three months ago.” But there is a communication problem: “In recent weeks, the German public – and also the European public – has been working hard to find out if the Germans will now send tanks.” Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. Due to the “chaotic coming and going”, however, Germany now stands out as a “hesitant great power”, continues Zotter. And that benefits Vladimir Putin.
Rosemarie Schwaiger, new columnist for “Presse”, writes in her first contribution to the “QuerWRITTEN” series: “I don’t know if the West will have done any good to the Ukrainians in the final accounts of this war, providing weapons and the massive resistance made possible in the first place . […] But I would like to make sure that a swift and negotiated end to this catastrophe is being worked out with the same zeal as the delivery of heavy equipment to the war zone.”
Also the three professors Heinz Gärtner and Max Haller
and Werner Wintersteiner ask in a guest article how much longer will be allowed “for the war to continue and be fed by the West?” They are pushing for a ceasefire.
But is peace really possible without weapons? No, says columnist Hans Winkler. He writes: “There is an unspoken reproach to Ukrainians: why are you doing this to yourself – and to us? Why are you fighting this war that is causing terrible human casualties and tremendous economic damage to property? Wouldn’t it be better to capitulate?” Winkler goes on to say that nuclear threats will allow Putin to achieve his most important goal: preventing the West from effectively supporting Ukraine through massive arms deliveries and rapid peace.”
(sk)
Join the discussion: How far should the West go in arms supplies? Has he done enough? Or: is there a better way to contribute to the end of the war in Ukraine?