2024-03-06 10:25:29
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Email: [email protected] Russia’s war in Ukraine Taurus missile. Range of 500 km [צילום: AP]
Chancellor Olaf Schultz refuses to provide Ukraine with advanced missiles for fear that they will be launched against Moscow, and a phone call by senior Air Force officers revealed that Germans may be needed to operate them – New York Times reports Source: David Sanger, Christopher Schutz, New York Times (05/03 /2024) First it was Emmanuel Macron, who upset his NATO allies by implying that the West might be forced to send troops to Ukraine – with the possibility of a direct confrontation with Russia, which the alliance consistently avoids. Then Olaf Schulz revealed further differences of opinion: he Tried to explain why Germany does not supply Ukraine with its most powerful missile, the Taurus, and hinted that the US, UK and France are secretly supplying it with similar weapons. Schultz was immediately criticized for revealing military secrets.
Less than a week after Vladimir Putin threatened a nuclear escalation if NATO forces entered the conflict, tensions between the Western allies show their difficulty in maintaining unity as the war has stalled and support for it is waning, especially in Washington – New York Times analyst. The challenge now facing NATO It is to find some combination of new weapons and financial support without being drawn into a direct confrontation with Russia, without knowing exactly where the line is drawn. This balance is especially difficult for Schultz.
Germany has given Ukraine more weapons and promised more aid than any other country except the US – but Schulz refuses to send the Taurus for fear that it would upset Putin too much. Schulz’s problems worsened over the weekend, when a 38-minute phone call between the commander of the German Air Force, General Ingo Gerharts, and other officers was published in the Russian media. She clarified that there are preparations for the possibility that the chancellor will change his mind and agree to send the missiles. In Berlin, they believe that this is a Russian move aimed at increasing opposition to aid to Ukraine.
Germany has at most 100 Taurus missiles it can send to Ukraine; Their range is longer than the ATMS systems provided by the US and the British Storm Shadow missiles and the French SCALP missiles. The European Parliament named the Taurus among the systems that Ukraine needs, in a resolution calling on the EU countries to provide it with additional weapons. But it is not really clear that even if Germany will provide them, they will significantly change the face of the war.
The “Leopard” tanks that Germany supplied last year did not help Ukraine carry out a successful counterattack, and it is doubtful that the F16s that Kiev is about to receive will change the picture now. What Ukraine needs most, say American officials, is precisely old-style artillery shells to prevent Russia from further territorial gains and anti-aircraft systems against missile and UAV attacks.
How to prevent a direct German contact Schultz. Got involved in a meeting with voters [צילום: אלסנדרה טרנטינו, AP]
The reason for not providing the missiles, Schulz said in a meeting with voters last week, is simple: Germany will provide Ukraine with $30 billion worth of weapons in the coming years, but the Taurus has a range of 500 km and will threaten Moscow. Schulz made it clear that he does not trust The Ukrainians must restrain themselves and not bring the war to the door of the Kremlin. Germany cannot be seen as putting Moscow in the crosshairs without risking a direct confrontation with it, he added.
What most complicated Schulz was his statement that an advanced missile system cannot just be handed over to Ukraine; NATO personnel are needed to operate it, he said. “What is happening on the British and French side in terms of locating targets and monitoring them, cannot be done in Germany,” he clarified – and he almost explicitly said that NATO countries directly control the systems they provide. There is a difference between supplying weapons to Ukraine and using them, he stressed.
Then came the leak of Gerhartz’s conversation, in which it was described in detail that German soldiers would be needed to locate targets, especially those that are difficult to hit, such as the Kerch bridge that connects Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula. They noted that Germany could send a maximum of 100 missiles, which necessitated an armaments economy. Another issue was how to program the Taurus in a way that would prevent contact between Germany and the detection of the targets and without the need to place German soldiers in Ukraine.
In a conversation with voters, Schultz also heard the opinion that his government should invest more at home and less in Ukraine, the Times notes. One of them asked why Germany prefers to arm Ukraine instead of negotiating with Russia; Schulz replied that no German or NATO troops would be stationed in Ukraine and was applauded. Polls show declining support for aid to Ukraine, while Schulz’s loose coalition partners and the conservative opposition demand that increasingly sophisticated weapons be sent to it.
Date: 06/03/24 | Updated: 06/03/24 Itamar Levin More European disagreements on aid to Ukraine
In the last two years, Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons three times: at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, when his army suffered defeats and last week (29.2.24) when he felt that the Ukrainian defense and American determination were being shaken. In all cases, the goal was the same: Putin knows that his opponents, led by Joe Biden, are most afraid of escalation, and the mention of the Russian nuclear capability is enough to prevent them from pressuring him too much – New York Times analyst.
Sweden will join the NATO alliance, perhaps as early as this week. The Hungarian parliament approved (26.2.24) the country’s joining, after the remaining 30 member states of the alliance approved it many months ago. Any joining of a country to the alliance requires the unanimous consent of the existing members. Finland joined NATO last year.
Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US is able to provide Kiev with the weapons, technology and intelligence it needs to prevent the country from being taken over, but in Europe it is now believed that Washington has lost the will to do so. The Europeans have the will and last month approved €50 billion in aid, but They don’t have the means to repel the Russians.
It’s not common to see multi-spies openly taunting their rivals, but last month CIA chief Bill Burns couldn’t resist the temptation. “The dissatisfaction among the Russians creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us and we are not wasting it,” he wrote. The things definitely hit a weak spot among the Russian “special services”, which failed in preparations for the war in Ukraine and were expelled en masse from European countries. But data published by the Economist show that the Russian intelligence services are learning from their mistakes, adjusting their actions and entering a new phase in the political war against the West.
The White House released a statement by President Joe Biden on the two-year anniversary of the expansion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which he referred to the war, and announced a large and comprehensive new sanctions package against Russia. The White House statement reads:
Merav Arad Itamar Levin Itamar Levin
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