RPT - Germany's Tank Vow To Kiev Marks Turnabout From Post-WWII Pacifist Posture - Expert

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2023) Germany's promise to send battle tanks to Ukraine is an abrupt turnaround in its post-war pacifist policy and the beginning of an escalation that could lead to a wider conflict, military expert Pierre Henrot told Sputnik.

"For Germany, becoming a leader for Europe in providing arms and funds to Ukraine is a total turnaround in their policy since the last world war. It is worrying to see Germany taking the lead in arming Ukraine and being in the front line against Russia," he said.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that the Bundeswehr would give Ukraine 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks from its own stockpile after caving in to continued demands for supplies from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called the decision "historic" but said it was not a cause for jubilation.

"The West finds itself in the trap of escalation and increasingly dangerously following the maximalist scenarios pushed by Zelenskyy. German Foreign Minister Ms. (Annalena) Baerbock now simply declares that she is waging war on Russia. It's totally irresponsible," Henrot argued.

Henrot, a former high-ranking officer in NATO artillery, accused political demagogues like the ex-leader of the German Greens of pushing the prudent chancellor towards what he described was an "increasingly active co-belligerence" of Germany and the Europeans in the Ukrainian conflict.

NATO could soon see itself sleepwalking into an armed conflict with Russia, the expert said, after the United States said it was discussing deliveries of very long-range missiles to Ukrainian troops that could reach deeper into mainland Russia.

Henrot predicted that the provision of tanks would eventually force NATO to put boots on the ground in Ukraine. He said it takes over a year to train a Leopard gunner or mechanic and more NATO involvement will be needed to provide maintenance for all the Leopards, Abrams, Challengers, and Leclercs. Their spare parts are incompatible and logistics are different and require the presence of maintenance mechanics and logistics experts.

"The masks are falling today: faced with the threat of seeing the Ukrainian army collapse, NATO seems ready for an open war with Russia. War has its own dynamics. With the supply of heavy tanks and very probably the maintenance mechanics and logistics experts who will have to take care of them, we are taking a new step. It's the spiral of escalation, the worst-case scenario," Henrot concluded.