German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habek said he did not support the rapid delivery of German tanks to Ukraine. According to him, while Russian special operations continue on Ukrainian soil, the transfer of heavy weapons to Kiev may pose certain risks for the European Union and NATO.
“Heavy weapons are synonymous with tanks, and all NATO countries have so far excluded it so as not to become a target for them (Russia).
NATO will constantly reassess the situation depending on the course of hostilities, and then this (delivery of heavy weapons) will be discussed within NATO. It is right for Germany to act together with its partners on this issue,” he said.
The German Vice-Chancellor’s comment went against the backdrop of another call from Ukraine to NATO and the EU to supply the country with heavy modern weapons, and the alliance and contingent have consistently avoided Russia since the beginning of its operation. Particularly, the parties could not agree on sending warplanes to Kiev, as it risked drawing the West into the Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine still receives some modern equipment, but this is mainly about conditional light weapons. For example small arms, portable Javelin and Stinger MANPADS, body armor and civilian vehicles. Until now, the agreement of Kiev’s partners on any heavy weapons was mainly to send Soviet equipment. According to Politico, this decision is linked both to NATO’s threat of going into conflict and to the fact that obsolete equipment does not require serious training for Ukrainian soldiers.
In general, Moscow has consistently criticized the West’s pumping of weapons into Ukraine, which began before Russian special operations under the pretext of the threat of “Russian invasion” to create risks for the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. In addition, the Kremlin pointed out that the supply of weapons to Kiev did not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.
What are the red lines of Russia?
Representatives of the Federal Assembly, interviewed by socialbites.ca, have different views on what kind of weapons to supply Ukraine from the West, Russia will decide to give a harsh response. Thus, Sergei Tsekov, a member of the International Relations Committee of the Federation Council, believes that the “red line” for Russia could be the supply of modern weapons to Ukraine.
“Especially this applies to modern aircraft and tanks. Western countries are approaching this line, as they supply Kiev with modern anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. That is, they get into all serious trouble and escalate the conflict with their actions.
The West, as they say, is ready to fight Russia in the hands of the Ukrainians until the last citizen of Ukraine. It is possible that countries supplying weapons to the territory of Ukraine will receive a certain response for their actions. What will happen and when is hard to say. Here it is worth waiting for the official statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, ”the senator added.
At the same time, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Yuri Shvytkin is confident that any light or heavy weapon supplied to Ukraine can harm the Russian armed forces.
“Therefore, absolutely any type of weapon requires Moscow to take appropriate measures to prevent its delivery to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia is conducting a special military operation to liberate the territory of Ukraine from the fascist regime and the Nazis. And those who supply weapons to Ukraine are accomplices and accomplices of this regime.
It’s time to move from warning statements to concrete action. In particular, to carry out preventive strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure, including transport. That is, on roads, bridges and airports. At the same time, multi-echelon strikes should be carried out with weapons on the territory of the country, ”the statement said.
At the same time, Andrey Frolov, an expert of the Russian International Relations Council (RIAC), did not ignore that the red line for Moscow, first of all, would be the supply of long-range high-precision attack systems to Ukraine. .
“The United States did not exclude that they could provide Kiev with systems that would allow attacks on Russian soil. In addition, it could become a red line if the planes are based in NATO countries and are making combat sorties over Ukraine,” he said.
Is it possible to block consumables
With the start of the Russian operation, Poland became the main center for the transfer of weapons from Western countries to Ukraine. Before hostilities, deliveries were made by air, but later transferred to road or rail.
According to the Polish newspaper Polityka, priority is given to road transport, as the road by rail is partly difficult.
For observers of the broadcast, this essentially excludes the possibility of delivery of heavy weapons – because the easiest way to do this is by air, which is practically impossible in current conditions.
The Russian side usually tracks down and eliminates weapons entering Ukraine. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Moscow will continue to halt attempts by Western countries to slow down the Russian special operation.
“We warn that US-NATO transports with weapons passing through Ukrainian territory are considered by us to be legitimate military targets,” the diplomat told TASS.
However, it is an open question whether Russia as a whole can somehow cut off the arms supply to Ukraine. Kyiv is currently receiving large volumes of individual weapons and ammunition, Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, told socialbites.ca.
“Since weapons enter the country mainly by ordinary commercial vehicles, it is quite difficult to prevent their delivery – it is quite problematic to identify them against the background of the general traffic flow.
Also, Russia generally refrains from hitting civilian targets. Under these conditions, it is possible to curb the flow of this small arms weapon by seizing the border crossings in western Ukraine. As for the supply of any heavy equipment, it is not possible to carry it secretly. And nothing here really prevents us from hitting the tiers if they are transported by rail or on their own,” he said.