After mobbed by the U.S., U.S. and NATO, 64-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear that Germany will not send Ukraine fighters jets now or in the future. Germany acquiesced to Western pressure agreeing to supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks, while the U.S. committed to 31 Abrams M1 tanks, with the U.K. agreeing to deliver 14 Challenger tanks. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to ask for more lethal weapons, insisting Ukraine can win back its lost sovereign territory from Russia but only if the U.S. and its Western partners deliver more advanced weapons. “I can only advise against entering into a constant competition to out bid each other when it comes to weapons systems,” Scholz told German new outlet Tagespeiegel. Scholz reluctantly gave German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks knowing it would prolong the war.
Zelensky complains that he doesn’t have enough lethal weapons to battle the Russian Federation, asking the U.S. and NATO for more weapons. From the outset of the war Feb. 24, 2022, Zelensky asked the U.S. and NATO to set up a no-fly-zone and contribute ground troops. President Joe Biden, 80 and 64-year-old NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotenberg drew the line on setting up a no-fly-zone and sendging troops, saying it would star WW III. As far as Zelensky is concerned WW III has already started, telling a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022 that Ukraine is not a charity case but an investment in preserving European democracy. How Zelensky can make such outrageous claims to a joint session of Congress is anyone’s guess. It show clearly that he knows how to toss around the propaganda. Zelensky was rejected by NATO in his bid to gain fast-track membership.
NATO refuses to admit Ukraine primarily because the country is essentially bankrupt, taking U.S. largess to pay its government salaries and war effort against the Kremlin. Biden has bent over backwards to accommodate Ukraine’s requests but realizes that the U.S. Treasury can’t afford to underwrite the Kiev government and war indefinitely. Once Germamy agreed to send Leopard 2 tanks, Zelensky began immediately pushing for fighter jets, something that annoyed Scholz. “The question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz said, letting Zelensky know there are limits to what Germany will do to support Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin. Kremlin officials have said that sending tanks to Ukraine constitutes “direct involvement” with the war, making Germany a target to Moscow’s response. Biden hasn’t said he would commit fighter jets to Ukraine.
Biden and the NATO alliance hasn’t figured out how far to push the Ukraine War, already dangerously close to escalating beyond Ukraine. Zelensky wants more cash-and-lethal arms claiming his forces must have more weapons to beat back the Russian military. Biden and Zelensky have operated under the belief that Ukraine can beat the Russian military with enough weapons. So far, after nearly one years of war, Russia has seized some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, has no intention of surrendering to Washington or Kiev. Scholz sees the unending nature to the Ukraine War, looking for more progress toward a ceasefire and peace talks. So far, Biden and Zelensky have rejected any attempt at ceasefire and peace talks until Russia agrees to pull out its forces from Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Washington and Kiev know that Putin will not agree to those terms for talks.
Putin offered to end the war in March 2022 if Zelensky would recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansky and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. As the war grinds on, Zelensky thinks he can get enough U.S. and NATO weapons to win back territory in Donbas and Crimea. Putin seized Crimea March 1, 2014 after a Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed, pro-Western coup toppled the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin seized Crimea to protect his Sevastopol naval base. Putin has showed zero interest in abandoning pro-Russian separatists in the Peoples Republics of Donetsk an Luhansk or the Crimea Peninsula. Zelensky did not have control over Donbas and Crimea before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion but has since, with U.S. cash-and-weapons, decided to fight to get back all his sovereign territory. Scholz sees Zelensky’s war aims as unrealistic and unattainable.
U.S. and NATO cannot expect Germany to contribute more to the Ukraine conflict, seeking a ceasefire and peace talks at the earliest possible time. Since the GOP took over the House Jan. 3, loud voices now question the advisability of Biden’s proxy war against the Russian Federation. Scholz wants no part of Biden’s proxy war, despite trying to be a team player when it comes to arming Ukraine. At some point, Biden must accept reality that Putin isn’t going to surrender to Washington or Kiev, recognize that there’s no military solution to the conflict. “Russia hopes to drag out the war, to exhaust forces,” Zelensky said. “So we have to make time our weapon. We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.” Zelensky knows that time is not on his side to reclaim all the territory he lost in the last year of war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
