Christine Lambrecht took her time.

During her inaugural visit to Washington, the German defense minister no longer has to introduce herself.

Due to the crisis, she has met Lloyd Austin several times in Brussels.

During their conversation at the Pentagon on Wednesday, the two were able to coordinate further action in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine without any great formalities.

The fact that the federal government no longer played the role of a problem in the West suited the minister to her advantage.

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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In a speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday, she reaffirmed the "turning point" in security policy.

"Germany has arrived in the new reality and is facing the consequences," she said.

Berlin will achieve NATO's planning goals - "and faster than promised".

The already planned army division will be reported as ready for action two years ahead of time, i.e. as early as 2025.

She referred to the planned special fund for the Bundeswehr of 100 billion euros and the announcement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Berlin would in future comply with NATO's two percent target.

Of course, the social democrat emphasized that there would be no militarization of German politics: “We will never presume to go it alone.

We will always remain closely involved in the European Union, in NATO, in the United Nations,” she said.

Furthermore, Europe needs the United States as a friend and as an ally.

Second or third largest arms supplier to Ukraine

The new federal government had already committed itself to a cornerstone of the alliance – nuclear sharing – before the Russian invasion.

The conversation with Austin may also have been about Lambrecht's decision in mid-March to equip the Luftwaffe with the F-35 stealth fighter aircraft made by Lockheed Martin.

These are intended to replace the old Tornado fleet and ensure nuclear sharing.

In the long term, Berlin is working with Paris and Madrid on the FCAS project (Future Combat Air System).

Since the aircraft belonging to the system will not be available until 2040, the decision to procure F-35 aircraft was necessary.

The Tornado Fleet can no longer be kept in service for that long.

In the speech at the Atlantic Council, Lambrecht praised President Joe Biden's leadership role.

"All attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin to split the West have failed," she said.

"And if we see today that Putin's plans aren't working out, then we owe that to this great consensus." How the West will react to Russian aggression is being studied just as intensively in Beijing as in Tehran or Pyongyang.

In all of these places, it was clearly noticed that the West was not as divided, weak and helpless as some had suspected or even hoped.

The security policy U-turn also includes the decision to supply weapons to Kyiv.

Lambrecht said: "In terms of Ukraine, I think Germany is now the second largest arms supplier, without putting a number on that now."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in Berlin on Wednesday that Germany was definitely among the top three arms suppliers to Ukraine.

The classification depends on which categories are used as a basis.

Based on the “tonnage”, i.e. the weight, then Germany is in second place.

In third place in terms of the value of the weapons supplied.

But that could change quickly.

He did not want to provide more detailed information about the details of the arms deliveries.