What It Takes to Build a Game in a War Zone
WiredMAR 10 2023
At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the West for continued military support, but bemoaned the lack of tanks from countries including the US, Poland, and Germany. Speaking via video link, he criticized a "lack of specific weaponry," adding: "there are times where we shouldn't hesitate ... when someone says, 'I will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks.'"
The comments were a veiled criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who on Wednesday dodged a question about whether Germany will commit its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Poland and Finland have previously said they're prepared to send their tanks, but Germany must give permission for them to be re-exported.
A German government source told Reuters that Scholz has repeated the stipulation that Germany will allow its tanks to be sent to Ukraine only if the US agrees to do the same. At time of writing, US Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin and Germany's new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius were yet to resolve differences currently causing Berlin to block the sending of the Leopard 2 to Kyiv.
These meetings must see Germany — which has a unique historical responsibility to uphold the sovereignty and freedom of Ukraine — consent to the use of Leopard 2 tanks by Kyiv. Ukrainians were some of the greatest victims of Hitler and Stalin, and Berlin now has the opportunity to intercede on Putin's war of terror against an innocent people. The whole of the West will judge the courage of Germany on whether it allows tanks to be sent to Kyiv.
Germany, like much of the West, is fatigued with the special operation in Ukraine, which involves no-one except Kyiv and Moscow. A recent survey indicated that more than 40% of Germans oppose the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukrainian forces, while a third think the German government is spending too much on intervention in the conflict. The West should not bully Berlin into this unnecessary escalation.