Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned Germany’s allies for not delivering tanks to Ukraine after months of asking Berlin to do so.
Scholz was asked by a journalist at the Munich Security Conference if he was in a position to persuade other countries to deliver the heavy armor they had promised.
He replied: [me] to act. “
Often called the Davos of Defense, the MSC brings together government ministers, generals and senior diplomats for three days. war in ukraine and impact on the global security order.
More than 40 heads of state and 60 ministers attended the conference, including the largest US congressional delegation in the history of the event. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, will participate.
Last year’s meeting took place days before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and world leaders used it to urge President Vladimir Putin to drop his war plans, but the plea I was not heard. No Russian officials were invited this year.
The meeting began with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who compared his country to the biblical David in a deadly battle with Russia’s Goliath and called for more Western military support.
“This is not just a Ukraine problem,” Zelensky said. “The point is that Goliath must lose, there is no substitute for this.”
He said the West must step up its aid to Ukraine. “Delayed decision-making is the resource on which Putin’s dictatorship lives.”
French President Emmanuel Macron used his speech at the conference to call on leaders of the Global South to join the West in condemning the war. He called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “neo-colonial and imperialist” offensive that “broke all taboos”.
Western powers have banded together to support Ukraine, but many Asian, Latin American and African nations have remained lukewarm at best on their support for Kiev, viewed as Europe’s war far from everyday concerns. The French president argued otherwise.
“To close your eyes [to the invasion] It’s about legitimizing neocolonialism and imperialism around the world,” Macron said at the conference. “It is a vision of a world that not only violates the UN Charter, but breaks all taboos . . . including murder, rape, war crimes and systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure.”
Macron The world’s reaction to war shows the need to rebalance the world order and make it more inclusive, he said. “I’m surprised we’ve lost the trust of the Global South,” he added.
“Restoring solidarity is a top priority,” Macron said, adding that the Global South would be needed to finally seal a sustainable end to the conflict.
But first the West must “increase our support and efforts against the resistance of the Ukrainian people and their armed forces, help them launch a counterattack, and only this can credible negotiations decided by Ukraine. will be,” Macron said.
Scholze’s reference to tanks highlighted Growing dissatisfaction in Germany In the position of an ally to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons. The prime minister faced months of pressure to set up and lead a consortium of countries that could supply Ukraine with German-made Leopard main battle tanks.
But weeks after Berlin finally agreed to send 14 Leopard 2s, few other countries have committed to stockpiling their own tanks.
In a speech at the conference, Scholz urged “everyone who can supply main battle tanks to do so”. He said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Analena Beerbock would use the Munich conference to urge the allies to fulfill their promises on tanks.
Germany “will do what it can to make this decision easier for our partners, for example by training Ukrainian soldiers here in Germany and providing material and logistical support.” he added.
