What is the unprecedented military aid that the West will send to Ukraine (and the change of position of Germany)

“I need ammunition, not a trip,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, rejecting an offer of US help to evacuate him from Ukraine. Ukraine.

And his request was apparently heard by the international community.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, continues, several countries pledged support by sending weapons to the country, an unprecedented move.

Who decided to send help? How much did they promise to send? And why did Germany change its position?

in numbers

On Saturday, the United States, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands announced arms shipments to help Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.

The US State Department has pledged to ship some $350 million worth of weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft systems and bulletproof vests.

For its part, the German government said it would supply Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank grenade launchers and 500 Stinger missiles in an emergency.

The Netherlands announced the deployment of 50 Panzerfaust-3 anti-tank weapons and 400 rockets.

The latter two countries are considering sending a Patriot joint air defense system to a NATO battle group in Slovakia.

NATO began deploying more forces in Eastern Europe “to respond quickly to any contingency”.

Finally, Australia announced on Sunday that it will fund the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine to help it fight Russian forces. But he did not offer further details about that assistance.

change of posture

Germany’s announcement to send weapons to Ukraine in a historic change in its military aid policy.

Until Saturday, Germany had a long-standing practice of blocking the shipment of deadly weapons to conflict zones.

But this changed.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point.

“The Russian aggression against Ukraine marks a change of era. It threatens our entire postwar order. In this situation, it is our obligation to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in defense against the invading army of Vladimir Putin,” Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz said.

Germany’s three-party coalition government, made up of Socialists, Liberals and Greens, faced challenges formulating a coherent response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But those public figures who have expressed sympathy for Moscow in the past have either kept quiet or said they were wrong.

Germans, meanwhile, were shocked by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine and demanded that his government take tougher action against the Kremlin.

“Our world is different after Putin’s war of aggression. While we are stunned by this violation of international law, we are not powerless,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on Twitter.

“That is why we will help Ukrainian soldiers fighting for their country with anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles,” he added.

Germany is one of the world’s leading arms producers and exporterswith sales increasing 21% between 2016 and 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

His main clients were South Korea, Algeria and Egyptdetails the German agency Deutche Welle.

Ukraine also buys from him armament to Germany.

In 2020 and through the first half of 2021, Germany approved 97 exports totaling $5.8 million, according to government reports.

These were mostly handguns and communication devices.

_______________________________