Wikimedia Commons / Markus Rauchenberger
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
For the first time, the West is sending armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine. A major part of this comes from Germany. This will give Kiev some of the firepower it has been asking for for a long time.
Germany has long been reluctant to send arms to Ukraine, but times seem to be changing. Germany has recently become the country that supplies the most weapons directly to Ukraine after the United States. This is evident from the data of Kiel Institute for World Economywhich maintains public aid data.
Marders, Bradleys and AMX-10
In a joint statement, Germany and the United States announced they will supply armored infantry fighting vehicles. Germany is sending 40 Marder armored vehicles to Ukraine and 50 Bradleys to the United States. Like the United States, Germany also sends a Patriot anti-aircraft system.
Earlier this week, France announced it would send AMX-10 heavy armored vehicles. France itself spoke of the delivery of “light tanks”, but officially they are not.
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Flickr: synaxonag
A German Marder during an exercise in Germany -
United States Army
An American Bradley during an exercise in the United States -
Wikipedia: Kevin B.
A French AMX-10 during a parade in Paris
The West has so far refused to supply such advanced weapons for fear of provoking Russia. Yet it is happening now. Kiev has long been asking for Marder armored vehicles and German Leopards tanks. Germany does not yet supply the latter. Chancellor Scholz has previously said he would not have been able to hand them over without the support of other NATO countries.
Germany is playing an increasingly important role
Germany’s reluctance to send weapons to Ukraine until now was largely due to World War II. The great aggressor of that time did not want to participate in armed conflicts. Which now seems to be slowly changing.
Just before the war in Ukraine, Germany got no further than sending 5,000 helmets to Ukraine, but not long after the Russian invasion, that changed. Chancellor Scholz spoke to the German parliament about a turning point, a new era. The defense received a one-off €100 billion.
Since then, Germany has been sending more and more weapons to Ukraine. First by giving old equipment to NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltic states, who then allowed them to send their old Soviet equipment to Ukraine. But later Germany also sent heavy howitzers and Gepard anti-aircraft guns to Kiev itself.
Data up to the end of November show that Germany has become one of Ukraine’s most important allies. With more than seven billion euros Germany contributes through the EU, it is also the largest after the United States.
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National support for Ukraine -
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National support for Ukraine
Since November, Germany has overtaken the UK as the country that supplies the most weapons directly to Ukraine after the US. In addition to €1.9 billion in arms, the UK has also provided €2.2 billion in financial support to Ukraine, earmarked for arms purchases. Germany has directly supplied arms to Ukraine worth 2.3 billion euros.
Germany also pays billions of euros to Ukraine through EU funds. This is how the salaries of thousands of Ukrainian civil servants are paid. In November, the European Union also surpassed the United States in full support. However, the United States still spends many times more on arms supplies than any other country.
But if you look at the support countries give to their economies, you will see that Germany, the UK and the US are far behind the Baltic states and Poland. Even the Netherlands will then do better, including contributions to EU funds.
