The eighth meeting of the contact group on Ukraine's defense in the Ramstein format, during which the Western allies agreed on a new package of military assistance to Kyiv, ended with a complete surprise.
The intrigue of recent days was resolved by a press conference by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army Mark Milley.
Listening to the cheerful reports of the generals, who talked about the historical moment in the battle with Russia, the journalists waited for them to move on to the hottest topic.
When Lloyd Austin finished his speech, the very first question made him talk about what he was trying to get around.
The question addressed to the head of the Pentagon, in which bewilderment was evident, was put point-blank: “Where are the tanks ?!”
Indeed, everyone was waiting for Austin to announce an agreement reached to supply Ukraine with German Leopard 2 heavy tanks, which during the winter campaign could become a serious force in the combat zone.
But that did not happen.
Poland and Finland, which are armed with Leopard 2, have previously expressed their readiness to send them to Ukraine, but without the permission of Berlin, this was impossible.
President Zelensky, who took part in the discussion in Ramstein via video link, in an interview with the German TV channel ARD the day before, made it clear that receiving German tanks, and in large quantities, is a matter of life and death for Kyiv.
In an interview with a German TV channel, Zelensky said: “Now is not the time to bargain, but the time to survive.
If you have Leopard tanks, give them to us."
Addressing the members of the contact group on the defense of Ukraine, he formulated his demands very specifically: “I can thank you hundreds of times.
But hundreds of these “thanks” are not a hundred tanks.”
However, Lloyd Austin, who came to the microphone, did not have the main good news for Kyiv.
The decision was never made.
Despite the colossal pressure put on him, Berlin - who would have thought - said no.
Having asked for hundreds of German tanks, Kyiv did not receive any of them.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the head of the Pentagon turned the arrows to the new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius - they say, on this topic, all questions are not for me, but for him.
At one time, Chancellor Scholz, who was called "offended liver sausage", showed Kyiv that "liver sausage" can suddenly be hard and you can break teeth on it.
But what could suddenly make him show uncharacteristic determination?
There may be at least two reasons.
First, according to recent polls, 43% of Germans oppose Berlin sending tanks to Ukraine.
Secondly, in the event that German tanks appear on the battlefield, it is not at all a fact that this will be a success story for Berlin.
And if this is a story of defeat - what then?
It's one thing - surrounded by a halo of an outstanding achievement of the German military-industrial complex, a promoted tank at a training ground or in a picture from a magazine.
And a completely different thing is a miracle tank, bogged down in the mud, skidding, captured by the Russians, who are hunting for it.
Or turned into a pile of burnt metal.
It will be another story and another media picture.
So it’s time for Zelensky to appear as an offended sausage.
Obviously not what was expected in Kyiv.
For the Ukrainian Defense Group, the eighth Ramstein turned out to be a tank for himself.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.