The Sky News story says "Ben Wallace did not say which nation he was referring to but it is likely to be Poland...". It seems to me that the journalist was speculating that Poland had formally asked for for permission, Wallace did not specify the country.. So it could have been another country that asked for permission last week. Or do you have another source clearly saying that Ben Wallace was referring to Poland specifically?
In any case I see a lot of ironies here -- Germany and Poland are clearly handling the Ukraine war quite differently at the same time it seems similar "forces" are at play. Both countries seem to be acting according to their individual histories. And both countries seem to let a lot of internal politics interfere with how they act and even more so how they communicate (or not communicate...). I would not be surprised if another country than Poland was the first to formally ask for permission, whereas Poland seems to be busy not just shipping military equipment to Ukraine but also vocally express their strong displeasure with how Germany is doing things -- it would perhaps be harder to do that, had they submitted a formal request for Leos much earlier....?
I believe it is more than that, as kato posted on the previous page and I agreed with it in the next post:
Baerbock's sentence there is primarily an official statement denouncing and deconstructing the smear campaign Polish nationalist party PiS is trying to run with British support against Germany.
In addition to historical reasons, power struggle in the EU is real (but beyond the scope of this discussion).
Also, Germany came around a long way since the war had started and one cannot really blame them for the way they look at things (and the view is actually more reasonable and is based on reality, in my humble opinion). The “red line” set by ourselves (the West) has been crossed numerous times, from supplying Stringers all the way to now Patriot’s and MBT’s. The “plans” have changed quite a bit as well, since now direct attacks on Russian territory are about to become almost welcoming and expected. Crimea is no longer put of out of bounds but had become part of the “plan”:
But the Biden administration has come to believe that if the Ukrainian military can show Russia that its control of Crimea can be threatened, that would strengthen Kyiv’s position in any future negotiations. In addition, fears that the Kremlin would retaliate using a tactical nuclear weapon have dimmed, U.S. officials and experts said — though they cautioned that the risk remained.
The Biden administration is considering the argument that Kyiv needs the power to strike at the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
www.nytimes.com
At the same time, Zelensky was telling the Germans that the tanks would not be used to attack Russia (sorry, trying to find the source, but can’t at the moment). Russians, in the meantime, keep warning about the involvement of NATO in the conflict, and supply of tanks in particular:
For its part, Russia has warned of increasing Nato involvement, direct as well as indirect, in the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that sending tanks would not change the course of the conflict, but would "create more problems for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people".
Germany does not commit to supplying Ukraine with Leopard tanks after a day of ally talks.
www.bbc.com
The distinction between defensive (which we said we would supply) and offensive (which we said we would not) weapons is gradually “blurring in”.
Furthermore, the recent developments in Russia can be viewed in different ways as well. For example, installations of Pantsir’s on the roofs of MoD and other buildings (source somewhere above, provided by another member) may suggest that, as most of the media indicate, the Russians are “fearful” of a Ukraine drone attack on Moscow. Another interpretation could be that they are actually preparing for an escalation and things to come. The latter holds logic behind it, as opposed to the former, in my opinion. Gerasimov becoming in charge of the war in Ukraine may suggest the same as he commands the Russian Armed Forces in their entirety and the chain of command beyond is very short and consists of two links. He is also, I believe, one of the three people with access to the “cheget”.
Anyway, this, in part, is also my response to what I said I would mull over and come back to it a page or two ago. We will see what happens. Frankly, the plan of attacking Crimea to bring Russia to the negotiating table is idiotic and will bring about a pretty strong response, again, in my humble opinion. Anyone and everyone may think of Crimea what they like, but that boat had sailed back in 2014 and it ain’t coming back. There aren’t many Russians that think this should be contested, even remotely so (
@Feanor may chime in with better insight on this perhaps?) Germany has things to worry about with the decisions they are making.
Baerbock stated that while Poland hasn’t sent a request yet, but if it does, Germany is not going to stand on the way in regards to the Leopards for Ukraine (vis Google translate):
“At the moment the question has not been asked, but if we had been asked, we would not have stood in the way,” Ms Baerbock told the French television channel LCI.
@KipPotapych Where is the source for this claim? I know that such has been reported BUT we still require a source. Please remember so in the future.
Ngatimozart.
@ngatimozart Sorry, I thought referencing the original source is sufficient. I usually post direct links but saw no need, really, in this case and more sources were supplied later in the discussion, including. Point taken.
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www.reuters.com
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