2024-04-24 06:03:26
The USA is apparently supplying long-range missiles to Kyiv. That could also put Olaf Scholz under pressure. An FDP politician calls on the Chancellor to act.
A scenario is threatening to occur in Ukraine that many Western experts have been warning about for weeks: a breakthrough by the Russian army. Now the troops of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin are said to have succeeded in doing exactly this near the town of Ocheretyne, west of Avdiivka. This is what Russian military bloggers report.
According to this, Russia’s armed forces are said to have advanced up to four kilometers into Ukrainian territory. According to the Kyiv Independent newspaper, they also allegedly used chemical weapons. The front in eastern Ukraine has been under massive Russian fire for months.
If this latest Russian success proves to be true, it is likely to reignite the debate over the supply of urgently needed military equipment and long-range weapons. Particularly among Ukraine’s European allies, where this discussion had recently taken a back seat due to the blockade in the US Congress.
Now, however, the USA is bringing new momentum to the debate – by apparently supplying Ukraine with a long-range variant of the short-range ballistic missile ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System). This is reported by the broadcaster CNN, citing US government circles. Accordingly, the Biden government is now willing to send 1,000 of the ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers to Ukraine. Read more about the ATACMS here.
Strack-Zimmermann: “Reason enough to act now”
Because the US government is sending a clear signal by delivering the more long-range variant of the rocket, this could also send a signal to the federal government. Most recently, Chancellor Olaf Scholz clearly rejected the idea of sending long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. But now the discussion within the coalition could be heated up again.
“The Chancellor has always assured that he is oriented towards the United States,” says FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann t-online. The chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag now sees a need for action by the Federal Government as a result of the USA’s advance. “The USA will now deliver long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. That is reason enough to act now on the Taurus issue,” she says.
Strack-Zimmermann has long been calling on the Chancellor to deliver the Taurus. One of Olaf Scholz’s arguments for his restraint: The Social Democrat does not want to turn Germany into a war party. The German weapon reaches even further than the American ATACMS. The Taurus can fly up to 500 kilometers.
The Union faction is also pushing for the delivery of German cruise missiles before Scholz’s meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday. Sunak should “also increase the pressure on Scholz to finally deliver Taurus,” said CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter to the “Rheinische Post”. For Ukraine, the material question is crucial for 2024.
US government abandons restraint
The significance of the US government’s step was also evident in the reaction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Tuesday evening. He expressly thanked US President Joe Biden for the military aid and explicitly emphasized the provision of the ATACMS. “We have clarified all the details in the agreement on the ATACMS,” said Zelensky in his evening video speech. “Thank you, Mr. President, thank you Congress and thank you America.”
Kiev has been waiting for months for supplies of weapons and ammunition, especially for its artillery and anti-aircraft guns. It will still take some time until this arrives – despite the approval of the billion-dollar aid package by the US Congress on Wednesday morning. Ideally days, in the worst case it can take weeks or even months.