The diagnosis was made by the defense ministers and other representatives of nine NATO countries, gathered in Estonia: “The necessary new level of combat power is only achieved through combinations of main battle tank, air defense and anti-missile squadrons, operating alongside artillery groups in divisions, and more deep precision artillery hitting Russian logistics and command centers in occupied territory,” reads the statement that brought together the host country, Denmark, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.
With several countries announcing new military aid packages for Ukraine, pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to make a favorable decision on tank supplies is reaching an all-time high as allies and partners from nearly 50 countries gather this Friday to discuss the new level. coordinate. of military support.
The nine countries gathered in Estonia signed the Tallinn commitment not only to “continue collectively to deliver an unprecedented range of donations”, as urged by others present at the meeting of the so-called contact group for the defense of Ukraine, in the air base of Ramstein, “to follow as soon as possible to secure a victory on the Ukrainian battlefield in 2023”.
These meetings are chaired by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who had met with his recently appointed German counterpart Boris Pistorius the day before. Not a word came out of the meeting on the issue of the moment, the German-made Leopard 2 tanks so desired by Kiev.
US Congressman Gregory Meeks, who was part of a delegation that met Olaf Scholz, confided to AFP that the German chancellor will admit to sending tanks to Ukraine only if the US does the same. Washington has rejected this idea because it believes that the deployment of Abrams tanks poses a series of problems, starting with the fuel supply.
Poland, like other countries that have Leopard in their inventory and are in favor of transfer, showed impatience with the Prime Minister’s voice: “Consent is of secondary importance in this case, either we get permission quickly or we will do what is necessary ourselves Mateusz Morawiecki stated.
At the same time, Politico argued that the Pentagon will transfer 100 armored Stryker vehicles and a new missile designed by Saab and Boeing that has a range of 150 kilometers, can be launched from different platforms and is much cheaper than, for example, the HIMARS .
Given this news (and also the shipment of 600 Brimstone missiles from London, 19 CAESAR howitzers from Copenhagen and the Archer artillery system from Stockholm), Moscow believes it is entering an “extremely dangerous” phase, the Kremlin spokesman said, Dmitry Peskov. “It doesn’t bode well from a global and pan-European security standpoint.”
Lavrov under fire
The European Union, the US and Israel condemned Sergei Lavrov’s comments the day before. The Russian foreign minister compared the actions of Western countries against the war in Ukraine to the Holocaust, leading the head of European diplomacy to say that “the manipulation of the truth by the Russian regime to prevent its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine justify, Ukraine has reached another unacceptable and despicable low.”
For Josep Borrell, the Russian minister’s comments are “completely unreasonable, disrespectful and trample on the memory of the six million Jews and other victims who were systematically murdered in the Holocaust.” The Spanish diplomat’s statement recalls “previous anti-Semitic remarks by Minister Lavrov”, which even led to an apology from Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov’s comparison between Adolf Hitler’s “final solution” to the “Jewish question” and the international coalition helping Kiev led the Israeli Foreign Ministry to call the comments “unacceptable” as it “distorts historical and profane truth, memory of those who perished and of the survivors”.
“How dare you compare anything to the holocaust let alone a war they started?” White House spokesman for national security John Kirby asked in turn.
MEPs want court
By 472 votes to 19, MEPs approved a resolution calling for the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal in Ukraine. The non-binding motion defends the “urgent need” for the EU to push for the establishment of the court and states that it should be empowered to investigate Russia’s leadership, including Putin, but also that of Belarus.
Whether or not to be a member of the International Criminal Court [TPI] cannot be a reason not to do justice to the dead and the maimed and that civilization demands,” said MEP Nuno Melo (CDS) during the debate on the subject. The ICC opened an investigation but has no jurisdiction, Commissioner said Didier Reynders that the creation of an international prosecutor’s office in Brussels is being discussed as a step towards the establishment of the court.
Source: DN
