Germany is delivering “Leopard” tanks, the USA is delivering “Abrams” main battle tanks to Ukraine – the result of a hard struggle between both partners.
US President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the G7 summit in Germany at the end of June 2022
On February 2nd, the groundhog was once again greeting in the USA – in some places the animal was traditionally asked about the future winter weather. This tradition became known worldwide in 1993 through the film comedy “Groundhog Day”, in which a weather presenter is stuck in a time warp.
One feels similarly when one takes a look at the support of the West throws for Ukraine: somehow everything has been experienced before. Delivery of heavy weapons? No, but after a few weeks it did. Modern anti-aircraft? Absolutely not, but it's possible in the end. And now top-of-the-line armored vehicles? A no-go, but not a problem these days.
The joint action of the NATO partners has a lot to do with the man who has governed Washington for two years: Joe Biden. After the chaotic years of his predecessor Donald Trump, whose strategy was largely limited to finger-pointing, the 46th President of the USA has chosen the more successful “carrot instead of stick” approach towards his European allies. Washington has repeatedly shown patience, especially towards Germany, and has often praised Berlin for its policies.
“Irritations in Washington”
This is also an attempt to give Germany the diplomatic “cover” it needs to make uncomfortable political decisions, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff from the German Marshall Fund told DW.
Recently, Biden publicly hailed Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine and for “going one step further” by Germany. Behind closed doors, however, according to Kleine-Brockhoff, the debate on the issue of main battle tank deliveries had taken on a different tone. “The German chancellor put pressure on the United States and said: 'I will not give in to you,'” explains Kleine-Brockhoff. “That caused irritation in Washington,” mainly because the USA had not pressed Germany.
Scholz announces delivery of Leopard 2 tanks
Biden denied that pressure from Scholz forced him to change his mind about sending Abrams tanks. But political decision-makers in Washington have recognized “how much the Germans actually want to follow and not lead,” says Kleine-Brockhoff.
“A turning point” also in transatlantic relations
The USA registered with great benevolence that shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Olaf Scholz had proclaimed the “turn of the era” in the Bundestag – with a significant increase in military spending and a more robust security policy in Germany. “It took a war for the Germans to change course,” said Kleine-Brockhoff, in order to eliminate the long-simmering “irritations” in transatlantic relations.
Leopard 2 tanks in the Bundeswehr garrison Augustdorf
The United States had previously been annoyed by Germany's opposition to increased military spending, i.e. to meet NATO's requirement of spending two percent of gross domestic product on defense. Washington also sharply criticized Germany's Nord Stream gas projects with Russia. For its part, Germany was upset that an ally had openly threatened sanctions over this energy deal. These issues have since been off the table.
Different interests in Ukraine
Berlin and Washington have different interests: while Germany sees the war in Ukraine as a regional security issue, for the US Ukraine is just a pawn in a tangled geopolitical chess game. A weaker Russia could be beneficial for US interests in other regions, for example.
“In Germany, on the other hand, almost nobody thinks in such categories,” says James Davis, director of the university's Institute for Political Science St. Gallen, DW. The intellectual clout for such scenarios is lacking.
Weapons for Ukraine: Is Germany a leading power or a hindrance?
The US needs Germany to take on more of Europe's defense burden so that the US can in turn devote more resources to the conflict with China in the Pacific. At the same time, Germany wants to know that it can count on US support in Europe. Joe Biden's clock in the White House is ticking: the majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives remind him every day that this foreign policy could already be obsolete in two years' time.
Criticism of Germany's foreign policy restraint
< p>Although the relationship between the USA and Germany under President Biden and Chancellor Scholz is much better than before, German restraint on foreign policy issues has remained largely the same in recent years, Davis said. “There's still that frustration, that kind of tension in the transatlantic relationship, but this time it's because the Germans are saying, 'Only with you.'”
Germany's expectation of the US still the same as in the Cold War era: the United States is the country that must take the lead when push comes to shove. Political scientist James Davis says of the German unease about taking on military responsibility: “They had quite a long time to grow into the new role. It reminds me of 30-year-olds who don't want to move out of their parents' house.”