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​What is the Real Reason Behind Germany’s Reluctance to Supply Ukraine With Weapons For Strikes on russia: It’s Not About Gas or Fear Before Putin

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​What is the Real Reason Behind Germany’s Reluctance to Supply Ukraine With Weapons For Strikes on russia: It’s Not About Gas or Fear Before Putin

When official Berlin says it will not give long-range weapons to Ukraine, it is not about "exceptional pacifism" and not even about russian natural gas and warm seats in the board of directors, because there is another most important reason

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again announced that Berlin will not hand over weapons capable of striking the territory of the russian federation. He made such a statement during the "Citizens’ dialogue" on August 25 in Magdeburg.

What is extremely interesting is that he said this with reference to the USA: Joe Biden "formulated it quite clearly: he said he won’t supply weapons that can be used to fire on the territory of the russian federation", as the German chancellor said, citation by Ukrinform.

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Although the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, explained earlier that the agreement with the United States was "that Ukraine will not use the weapons it received from the United States and other partners on the territory of the russian federation." That is, there was nothing about the prohibition of long-range weapons delivery, but the use of those against the russian territory within its worldwide-recognized borders.

Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), the German self-propelled howiter
Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), the German self-propelled howiter. Ukraine has got 10 such systems from the Bundeswehr already / Open source photo

At the same time, practice proves that when perceiving any statements from official Berlin, it is necessary to pay close attention to all aspects. In particular, what kinds of long-range weapons may Germany not transfer to Ukraine.

The thing is, even such wording is quite strange, because it gives the impression that between Ukraine and the russian federation there is not a common border, but some kind of chasm or a strait hundreds of kilometers wide. Technically, even with the PzH 2000 self-propelled guns provided by the German government, it is possible to shell not just some russian villages and towns close to the border, but as well Belgorod from the territory of Ukraine. And the announced long-range Vulcano projectiles, moreover, allow firing at a distance of 70 km.

German Panzerhaubitze 2000 is already being used against russian invaders in eastern Ukraine / Open source photo

Therefore, most likely, Scholz had in mind a long-range weapon capable of hitting targets hundreds of kilometers from the starting point. And here we can take a look into the arsenal of the Bundeswehr and see what Berlin could possibly "hide" from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And as it turns out, Germany doesn't really have a long-range arsenal. The Bundeswehr does not use ATACMS, and not even all MARS (local name for the M270) multiple rocket launchers have been upgraded to use high-precision GMLRS. There are no other tactical missile systems with ballistic missiles or ground-launched cruise missiles. So, in fact, Germany has already handed over all samples of its most far-reaching ground weapons: PzH 2000 and MARS II.

The only thing left is the Taurus KEPD 350 air-based cruise missile – a rather interesting Swedish-German development with an attack range of over 500 km. This stealth missile is integrated into Tornado, F/A-18, F-15K, Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

KEPD 350 launched from a Tornado jet
KEPD 350 launched from a Tornado jet / Open source photo

Ukraine does not have any of them in service, and according to the Pentagon's statement, there are no plans to supply them yet. And if we talk about air-based cruise missiles, then actually the Air Force of Ukraine has more interesting options, the integration of which "under the wing" of some Su-27 or MiG-29 is considered a much easier task.

In summary, Germany will not provide long-range weapons to Ukraine, not because there are any agreements with allies, not because of the US position, and not because of fear of the war in Ukraine turning into World War III, but simply because there is nothing to offer.

But this, of course, does not keep German officials from finding the reason in completely different issues instead of admitting that for decades long, Berlin did not fulfill the NATO obligations regarding the allocation of 2% of the GDP for defense and gradually saved this money and reduced its army.

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