Germany will authorize the delivery to Ukraine of Cheetah-type tanks, a government source announced on Tuesday, which constitutes a major turning point in the cautious policy followed so far by Berlin in its military support for Kyiv.
The details and in particular the number of tanks, specialized in anti-aircraft defense, must be revealed during the day by the Minister of Defense, Christine Lambrecht, during a meeting on the American military base of Ramstein, in the west. of Germany, according to this source.
These vehicles would come from the stocks of the German defense industry.
About 40 countries are meeting on Tuesday at the Ramstein base, at the invitation of the United States, to strengthen the defense of Ukraine, which, according to the American Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin “can win” against Russia, if given the means.
As Russia aims for full control of southern Ukraine and the Donbass region, this meeting is intended to “generate additional capabilities for Ukrainian forces”, Mr. Austin said on Monday, returning from a visit to Kyiv.
France has already announced that it is sending Caesar guns with a range of 40 kilometers, and the United Kingdom has donated Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and armored vehicles.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is for his part severely implicated by his neighbors in Central Europe and the Baltic for his refusal to deliver heavy weapons claimed by Ukraine. These critics see in it partly the continuity of a pro-Russian tropism of his social-democratic party, the SPD.
In Germany itself, the political debate is lively, including within the government coalition where the Greens and Liberals consider the support given to Kyiv insufficient and have been urging the Chief Executive for several weeks to authorize the delivery of offensive equipment, in particular armored vehicles.
The Chancellor justifies his cautious policy in terms of heavy armaments by the concern to avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, a nuclear power.