The first heavy weapons from Germany have arrived in Ukraine. However, tanks have not yet been delivered directly there. There is the so-called ring exchange, which according to Chancellor Scholz is now picking up speed.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced further arms deliveries to Ukraine as part of the so-called ring exchange for the coming weeks. The federal government has “now specified these agreements with several countries to such an extent that they will be directly linked to extradition,” said the SPD politician in the Bundestag. But he did not give any details.
Ring exchange means that Eastern European allies deliver weapons of Soviet design to the Ukraine and receive weapons from Germany in return. Soviet-made weapons are easier for Ukrainian soldiers to use than Western-made equipment, which is new to them.
implementation in the coming weeks
The Federal Government has held talks with countries such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Slovenia on the exchange of rings. “We have invested a lot of energy in making sure that happens,” said Scholz in the Bundestag. Implementation will follow in the next few weeks.
There has been an agreement with the Czech Republic for some time. The Federal Ministry of Defense announced in May that the country was to receive 14 Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks and one Leopard 2-based recovery vehicle for the delivery of 20 T-72 main battle tanks from its own stocks to Ukraine.
Scholz did not comment on the Union’s demand to deliver transport and armored personnel carriers directly from Germany to Ukraine. However, he reiterated that Germany will only deliver what Ukraine’s allies are also providing. “It’s a management decision that we made together that we don’t go it alone,” he emphasized.
Discussion about armored personnel carrier Fuchs
The CDU/CSU parliamentary group wants the Bundestag to vote on the delivery of 200 Fuchs armored transport vehicles. The war is in a critical phase, in which progressive wear and tear in Ukraine would have serious strategic consequences, according to a motion for a resolution that, according to a group spokesman, is to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
The parliamentary group also refers to a decision taken jointly with the traffic light coalition in the Bundestag at the end of April to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine. «For the Ukrainian army, it is about the rapid delivery of reliable material that can be used immediately on the front line. Such material is in the inventory of the Bundeswehr and should be removed from use by the Bundeswehr: the Fuchs armored transport vehicle,” says the application.
The day before, Inspector General Eberhard Zorn had stated that he saw no scope for such a levy. “The Bundeswehr has 825 Fuchs armored personnel carriers, but in different versions: radar carriers, radio jamming tanks, personnel carriers, NBC reconnaissance tanks and medical variants, to name just a few. The fox is the platform for that,” said Zorn. And: “We need these vehicles. I currently do not see any possibility of handing over these vehicles or part of them. »
Previously, the ranks of the traffic light coalition Greens and FDP had also called for the armored personnel carriers to be handed over to Ukraine to help against the Russian attack.
Immediately after the start of the war, the German government decided to support the Ukraine in its fight against the Russian attackers with weapons. In the meantime, the first heavy weapons, seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery pieces, have also been delivered.
