Germany on Tuesday opened the way to an authorization for the allies to deliver Leopard heavy tanks insisted on by Ukraine, where the government is rocked by the first major corruption scandal since the start of the Russian invasion there. almost a year old.
Four deputy ministers, including that of Defense Viatcheslav Chapovalov, as well as five governors had to leave their posts in the wake of this affair, announced the Ukrainian authorities.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he “expressly encouraged partner countries that have Leopard tanks ready for deployment to train Ukrainian forces on these tanks” during a conference of press with Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO.
These declarations mark a step forward in the position of Germany, where the government of Olaf Scholz has been under increasing pressure for several days to give its approval to NATO member states who wish to deliver to Ukraine Leopard, German made.
The head of NATO, for his part, hailed the “clear message” from the new German Defense Minister, who has been in office for less than a week.
Reaffirming the importance of supplying more heavy weapons to kyiv, he said he was “confident” that a solution will “soon” be found on the delivery of these tanks.
“Such deliveries will not bring anything good” to Russian-German relations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov immediately reacted, judging that this “would leave an indelible mark”.
Official request from Warsaw
Finland and Poland have declared their readiness to supply Ukraine with these tanks, which could have a significant impact on the Ukrainians in the face of the steamroller of Russian troops who are regaining some ground on the eastern front of Ukraine. .
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced that he had officially requested Germany’s agreement, inviting it to join “the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks”.
On Monday, Poland had warned that it was ready to do without authorization from Berlin. This country, which says it is ready to send 14 Leopards to kyiv, is discussing this with about fifteen states, many European armies possessing such armored vehicles.
Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refused to comment on the question of these indirect deliveries, just like on that of directly supplying Leopards from German stocks.
The fear of a military escalation with Moscow and his reluctance to make his country assume leadership in the Western camp explain his hesitations, according to analysts.
The issue is causing tension within his government coalition with environmentalists and liberals. Its Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) assured Sunday that Germany was ready to authorize Warsaw to supply these armored vehicles to Ukraine.
Only the Chancellor can make a decision on this issue, however, recalled Mr. Pistorius. “I understand the concerns and fears of Ukrainian friends. Germany has a special responsibility and role,” he admitted in an interview with state television.
But “we have to think carefully about what we can do,” he said, repeating that Berlin did not want to “go it alone”.
In this context, the European Union announced on Monday that it was granting an additional 500 million euros to supply armaments to kyiv and allocating 45 million euros to the training of Ukrainian soldiers on EU territory.
And a sign of growing tensions with Moscow: two of the three Baltic countries, Estonia and Latvia, had each announced their decision to expel the Russian ambassador on their soil, following in the footsteps of Lithuania which had done the same. ‘last year.
Ukraine overtaken by corruption
For Ukraine, the support of Western allies, military and financial, is crucial and it says it needs hundreds of modern tanks and other armaments for a new offensive.
“Today marks exactly 11 months since the start of the full-scale war. The 335e day. A day that we will pass like the 334ejoining forces for victory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
This day is also marked by the resurgence of an endemic evil in this country: corruption.
In addition to the Deputy Minister of Defence, that of Social Policy and two others of Territorial Development were removed from their posts after an alleged corruption scandal concerning army supplies, the first of this magnitude since February 24, 2022 .
Other dismissals had already recently taken place in Ukraine, which was ranked 122e place out of 180 on the NGO Transparency International’s corruption perception index in 2021.
On Sunday, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Vassyl Lozinsky was arrested, accused of receiving a $400,000 bribe to “facilitate” the purchase of generators at inflated prices, as his country faces a extensive power cuts following Russian strikes on energy facilities.
Pavlo Galimon, deputy leader of the presidential Servant of the People party, was sacked on Monday amid accusations of corruption in connection with the purchase of property in kyiv.