Not without the USA: That is important to Chancellor Scholz when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine. How much pressure he put on Biden, however, is still unclear.
How did the decision to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine come about between Germany and the USA? There are still conflicting statements about this. The federal government has now contradicted a statement from the White House that US President Joe Biden only agreed to the delivery of Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine at German insistence – against the recommendation of his military.
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Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner made it clear on Monday in Berlin that the decision to jointly supply main battle tanks had been made by mutual agreement from a German perspective. “These were good, constructive discussions, in which both sides always made sure that a common approach was reached.”
“There was never a Junktim”
Büchner reiterated an earlier statement by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, according to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) never made Biden’s delivery of German Leopard tanks dependent on the provision of Abrams tanks. Hebestreit said in January: “At no time (…) was there a link or a demand that one thing had to happen so that the other could happen.” Büchner now said that he “does not have to correct” this representation.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, presented the decision-making process differently in a television interview on Sunday. The Germans told Biden that they were not prepared to send Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine until the President agreed to a delivery of Abrams.
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Biden initially decided against the Abrams delivery for military reasons. In the interests of “the unity of the alliance” and “to ensure that Ukraine gets what it wants,” he agreed.
Months of discussions about main battle tank deliveries
Büchner said he saw no contradiction. “I don’t want to comment on the interpretation or the statements made by Mr. Sullivan here. But I think it has been seen over the past few weeks that the Federal Chancellor and the American President have always coordinated very, very closely, spoke intensively on many topics, and in the end we got good results.”
In the tank debate, the US government had already contradicted itself. First of all, it was said that the provision would not be considered useful for practical reasons. “It just doesn’t make sense to give the Ukrainians this tool right now,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in mid-January. After the delivery commitment, however, she emphasized that this was not only intended to clear the way for tank deliveries from allies. US main battle tanks also gave Ukraine an advantage on the battlefield.
After months of discussions, Scholz and US President Joe Biden agreed in January that Ukraine should be supported with battle tanks. Germany initially promised 14 Leopard 2 tanks – now there are 18 – and the USA the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams.
Delivery of the Abrams is likely to take a long time
Close coordination with the United States, the strongest NATO ally in military terms, is one of the Chancellor’s basic principles when it comes to arms deliveries. Even the decisions for multiple rocket launchers and anti-aircraft systems were made synchronously with the Americans. However, Sullivan’s statements now also show that the White House has no problem with European allies supporting Ukraine on their own initiative.
In the interview, Sullivan responded to a question that the Abrams tanks might not arrive at all this year. The US government orders the tanks for Ukraine from industry – that is, they do not come from the military’s own stocks. So it might be a while before they arrive. The first Leopard 2 tanks from Poland, on the other hand, are already in Ukraine. The German tanks should be there by the end of March.
