Last Wednesday it became clear: Germany will deliver the Leopard-2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. According to Defense Minister Pistorius, they could be there in late March or early April. While Ukrainian President Zelensky thanked Germany, he also asked for even more support: long-range missiles and fighter jets. Ukraine is again under a lot of pressure, last week there were many big attacks from Russia. A major Russian offensive is also expected in the spring.
Security expert Claudia Major of the Science and Politics Foundation observed the war in Ukraine from the beginning. She says, “Main battle tanks are a qualitative game changer, but they won’t decide this war alone.” She cautions against raising expectations and also against taking the next step directly from tanks to jets. But the question is still: “What will happen if we don’t deliver weapons to Ukraine?” If Russia wins the war, the security situation in Europe will be much more dangerous than it is now. Currently, Russia shows no willingness to negotiate peace without preconditions: “Russia wants to abolish Ukraine as such.” That is why Putin “must be brought to the negotiating table with military force”.
The editorial deadline for this show was Friday, January 27, 2023 at 6:00 pm.
Moderation, editing: Tami Holderried
Editors: Vinzent-Vitus Leitgeb, Sabrina Höbel, Lars Langenau
Producer: Benjamin Markthaler
Additional audio material on Phoenix, afp, Office of the President of Ukraine, German Bundestag, Netflix
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