Scrounging for Tanks for Ukraine, Europe’s Armies Come Up Short

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/world/europe/ukraine-tanks.html

But Russian soldiers are counting on additional earnings. (Russian businessmen have established a payment for each Western tank that is destroyed).... The West has deceived again.

In the photo, the Ukrainian commander of the Leopard tank delivered to Ukraine... You can see how much anguish is in his eyes. He understands what awaits him.

In the meantime... In Britain, food inflation is 17.7%, the last two BASF plants have fled from Germany... The revenues of the Russian budget system for January-February turned out to be more than expected and exceeded 5 trillion rubles. And now the Treasury Russian distributes these revenues by levels of the budget system.
China said that "an attempt to defeat Russia for NATO will end in humiliation for the West" - Hu Xijin in an article for the Global Times newspaper.
“Russia alone can already resist the entire West,” Hu Xijin said.
Such news today.

 

^

 

2 min ago
US will send rockets, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine in new $400 million aid package

From CNN's Oren Liebermann

The United States announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine on Friday that is valued at up to $400 million.

This is the thirty-third presidential drawdown on US inventories, totaling more than $32 billion, used to aid Ukraine since the start of the war more than one year ago.

In a drawdown, the Defense Department pulls weapons and equipment from US inventories to send abroad, rather than purchasing new weapons from manufacturers.

“This package features more ammunition and support equipment for Ukraine’s precision fires, artillery, and armored vehicle operations," the Defense Department wrote in a statement.
CNN reported earlier key details of the package.

The provided weapons, munitions and equipment include:

• Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
• Additional 155mm artillery rounds
• Additional 105mm artillery rounds
• Additional 25mm ammunition
• Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges
• Demolition munitions and equipment for obstacle clearing
• Testing and diagnostic equipment to support vehicle maintenance and repair
• Spare parts and other field equipment

With Friday's package, the US will have committed more than $32 billion to Ukraine since the start of the war more than one year ago.

Ukrainian officials have also been pushing to obtain US F-16 fighter jets, which President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have opposed so far. ​

Live updates: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-03-3-23

I don't know how Europe is doing with finding all of the awesome Leopard 2s that have been promised, but good old Uncle Sam has Ukraine covered

 

https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2023/...lish-mercenaries-captured-in-ukraine-muratov/

"MOSCOW, RUSSIA — The first Leopard tank in Ukraine was captured and crewed by Polish mercenaries.

"This is claimed by Mr. Alexey Muratov, deputy secretary of the Donetsk branch of the 'United Russia' party.

"It is the political party of the Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin.

"According to Mr. Muratov, the tank was captured in the area of the city of Bakhmut."

If this report is accurate, it's worth noting the tank was crewed by mercenaries from a NATO state.

Douglas Macgregor and Scott Ritter are among commentators who are alleging thousands of active duty Polish troops are currently fighting in Donbass while wearing Ukrainian uniforms.

There's speculation that when the current proxy government in Kiev falls, the Poles will simply change back into their native uniforms and reclaim their 1939 border with Ukraine.

 

This is only speculation, an seems to be rather silly.
It is pretty clear to me that an independent Ukraine as a member of NATO and the EU is in nearly every way favorable to the US.
A Ukraine as a vassal state of Russia is the opposite.

 

NYT is behind a paywall.

that said, the idea that a year into a conflict such as this that any European country is only just now dusting off its inventory and making discoveries about whether it’s serviceable or not is patently ludicrous.

 

The Europeans (other than U.K.) really need to get off their butts. Germany is making big promises which are encouraging but they are taking forever to actually deliver things. That one patriot battery was nice though. They should have been upgrading Leo 1 and 2s for the last year but they are only now starting to look at that. It will probably take a year before we see any actual action.

 

I think the key word in your post is "independent."
How someone applies that term to the conflict in Ukraine depends on their interpretation of:

"United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, Declaration on Principles of International Law, concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, adopted on October 24, 1970, states:

"'No State shall organize, assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another State, or interfere in civil strife in another State.'[17]"

Many who oppose US support for the Zelensky government believe Ukraine's independence ended in February of 2014 when it became a vassal of US/NATO investor interests.

https://www.conservapedia.com/Maidan_coup#UNGA_Res._2625

 

Well, you know, Putler kind of surprised everyone and it has taken Germany months just to work up the popular support to provide even main battle tanks. No western economies were prepared to suddenly support one side in a massive conventional ground war.

 

Scrounging for Tanks for Ukraine, Europe’s Armies Come Up Short

They would just prefer to have the U.S. bear the financial load for arming Ukraine. Nothing new there.