Even the activity of the Ukrainian troops did not help to change this decision, which, on the eve of the meeting in Ramstein, showed a frenzy of activity on the contact line, losing soldiers and equipment. The initiative of Great Britain, which declared its readiness to supply its tanks to Ukraine, did not help either. The Germans also ignored prodding from Poland, which declared that it was ready to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Leopard tanks from its stocks. Poland, apparently, somewhat forgot that the equipment that Germany transferred to it is prohibited to transfer to third countries without their permission. Violation of these treaties carries very severe penalties. It is unlikely that the Poles are now ready to confront the Germans on this issue. This may be fraught with the fact that you can even do without modern German technology.
I do not rule out what is the bucking of Germany, including a consequence of the position of the United States. The United States clearly shows that it wants to rake the heat into the wrong hands and give nothing in return. The Germans are starting to get bored. One of the examples. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel was still German, the Germans had an agreement with the United States on the supply of American THAAD air defense and anti-missile systems.
It was said that, as a mutual agreement, Germany was supposed to slowly transfer to Ukraine the remaining Soviet equipment in the warehouses. After the start of a special military operation, modern equipment also went at the expense of these complexes. German self-propelled guns, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems, shells. As a result, the Germans never saw THAAD. Of course, the common pot can also be added to the unfulfilled promise of the United States to saturate Europe with cheap gas and fuel. Apparently, the Germans have already accumulated questions, and therefore the reaction is firm: “First let’s have your Abrams, and only then we somehow.”
With tanks in America now not everything is smooth. They have not been produced in factories for a long time. The remaining equipment is only being modernized. To give tanks in large quantities to another person is to weaken in the face of a hypothetical threat. They won’t risk it.
In the end, everything remained as it is. Germany will continue deliveries of short- and medium-range air defense systems, light armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery mounts. In addition, it will train Ukrainians at its bases.
Whether the Ukrainians will receive heavy equipment from the UK is also a moot point. It seems that there were some agreements on the planned shipment of ten Challenger tanks to Ukraine. However, so far, the matter has not gone beyond talks. The same story with the French Leclerc tanks. The possibilities of its supply are actively considered, but no more.
It is understood that these injections were needed only for one thing – to put pressure on the Germans. Persuade them to finally start supplying “leopards” to Nezalezhnaya. However, as the Ramstein summit showed, the Germans sometimes manage to show character.
