The german government had given green light for him shipping to Ukraine from tanks type Gepardwith a capacity of air defense, belonging to the stocks of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) consortium, according to German media. KMW, according to this information, would have received authorization to sell to kyiv tanks of these characteristics, which can also be used against ground targets.
Magazine Der Spiegel argues that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht may make an announcement on the matter during a conference on Ukraine at the american base from Ramstein being held today with the assistance of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergand the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The main objective of the meeting is to address the rearmament of the Ukrainian Army to repel the Russian invasion that began on February 24. At a time when Russia is seeking full control of southern Ukraine and the Donbass region, the meeting at the Rammstein base in western Germany aims to “build additional capabilities for Ukrainian forces,” according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday.
“They can win with the right support”
“They can win if they have the right team, the right support,” Austin said after returning from a visit to kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
USAwhich provides most of the international military aid to Ukraine, wants to “give them the kind of support, the kind of artillery and ammunition that will be effective in this phase of the fight,” the Pentagon chief told a news conference in Poland, not far from the Ukrainian border.
Kyiv has called for heavy artillery and armor in an attempt to push back Russian forces in the country’s vast southern and eastern plains, but the Russian-made equipment that Ukrainian forces have been trained to use is in increasingly short supply.
Some countries of Eastern Europe Those who still have stocks send them to kyiv, sometimes in exchange for new-generation US weapons, as the journalists who accompanied Austin to Poland found out.
diapers and guns
The pentagon chief Y Anthony Blinken spoke to reporters Monday from a warehouse where tons of humanitarian and military aid were stacked ready to be loaded onto trucks for shipment to Ukraine. Not far from the pallets of medical supplies and diapers were hundreds of Russian-made projectiles and rockets, donated by countries that generally want to keep quiet about their involvement in the Ukrainian war effort.
Outside, seven vehicles towing howitzers with a range of 30 kilometers awaiting the transfer, in front of hundreds of pallets of projectiles and other ammunition carefully lined up.
But this is not enough and the United States, which at the beginning of the Russian invasion limited its shipments to “defensive” weapons, has begun to send to kyiv US-made heavy weaponssuch as howitzers and various armored vehicles.
“We are talking with colleagues from other countries to get the same type of weaponry, and we are getting the first indications that many countries are going to volunteer,” the Pentagon chief said. France has already announced it will send Caesar cannons with a range of 40 kilometers, and the UK has donated Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and armor.
allies near and far
The meeting is also intended to ensure Ukraine’s long-term security after the war is over.
“This is mostly about modernization and making sure your military remains strong and able to function well into the future. It’s not about security guarantees, it’s about your actual military posture,” a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday. , John Kirby, to reporters.
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The meeting is not being held within the framework of NATO, although the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, is expected to attend.
Among the 40 invited countries are the European allies of the United Statesbut also more distant countries such as Australia Y Japan, who fear a Russian victory in Ukraine would set a precedent and encourage China’s territorial ambitions. Finland and Sweden, traditionally neutral countries that have considered joining NATO since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, they are also on the guest list.