Only 20% in the West, and 80% in the Eastern camp, highlighting the gap! Promise of Arms Assistance to Ukraine Tank | Camp | Promise
According to the report of Nihon Keizai Shimbun on August 1, the gap between the East and West camps in Europe in terms of the actual delivery rate of arms aid to Ukraine is prominent. During the Cold War, Eastern countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic fulfilled nearly 80% of their tank equipment, while countries such as the United States and Germany only had about 20%.
The report suggests that this phenomenon reflects the different actual feelings of various countries towards the Ukrainian crisis, with Western Europe experiencing a period of fatigue in aiding Ukraine.
According to reports, Ukraine launched a counterattack in the southern and eastern parts of the country in early June, but only regained about 0.3% of its territory under Russian control within a month and a half. Ukrainian President Zelensky stated in an interview with the BBC that the progress of the counterattack is slower than expected.
The report points out that one of the main reasons is that the military aid equipment promised by various countries has not been fulfilled for a long time. A survey conducted by the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany from January 2022 to the end of May 2023 showed that countries had promised to provide Ukraine with 757 tanks, but only 471 tanks were actually delivered, accounting for about 60%.
The report states that the majority of them are from Central and Eastern European countries. Poland has provided 264 tanks, fulfilling 80% of its commitment, most of which are models or improved versions developed during the Soviet era. Czech Republic has fully delivered the promised 89 Soviet tanks.
Compared to this, the gap between the United States and Western Europe is very obvious. Germany has promised to provide the Leopard 2 tank, which has better attack power than Soviet style main battle tanks, but currently only 18 have arrived in Ukraine, only about one-third of its promised amount. The United States and the Netherlands respectively promised to provide 76 and 89 tanks, but only 19 were delivered.
The report points out that in order to deploy armored forces for large-scale combat, it is necessary to have a large number of tanks of the same type. Therefore, this summer Ukraine will have no choice but to use Soviet tanks as the main force in its counterattack.
According to reports, many Western European countries such as Germany and Italy rely on Russian energy, and the fact that they are in a "fatigue period of aid to Ukraine" as the war deepens cannot be denied.
