Thread by @fuecks

"Late you come, yet you come". The relief is mingled with a drop of bitterness. The delayed delivery of the Leos costs lives. Training and logistics must be in place by March at the latest, when the war will escalate again. /1 #Scholz #Biden #Tanks

washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/…

#Ukraine needs continuous replacements for the old Soviet tanks. The numbers now promised can only be the beginning. Leos must be flanked by air reconnaissance, air defense, armored personnel carriers, artillery, and antitank systems. Speed matters. /2

A comprehensive plan is needed for a continuous supply of weapons and ammunition for #Ukraine with a corresponding expansion of production capacities in Europe. Wars are decided by a combination of fighting morale, strategic intelligence and resources /3

The answer to Chancellor Scholz's concern that a direct confrontation between #Russia and #NATO must be avoided is not "restraint" by the West, but deterrence of Russia through a policy of strength. The EU and the U.S. must jointly draw Putin red lines. /4

It makes no sense at all to exclude in principle the supply of certain types of weapons (such as combat aircraft). The West must supply what Ukraine needs to protect its population and win the war. /5

Some consider the Leopard-Abrams junction a strategic masterstroke. But does the U.S.'s assistance commitment hinge on the fact that it also supplies tanks? It seems to me that this linkage is rather an certificate of inadequacy for European security policy. /6