Can Germany supply heavy weapons to Ukraine so that the country can repel the Russian attack and retake territory?

What deliveries are possible?

What can the Bundeswehr give up?

Last but not least: Is Chancellor Olaf Scholz hesitant to deliver tanks because he fears that Germany could be drawn into a war?

Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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In this debate, the SPD chancellor sees himself under pressure.

Politicians in the traffic light coalition accuse him of despondency and a lack of leadership.

The Green Anton Hofreiter, now the spearhead of Scholz's critics, warned on Wednesday that Germany's procrastination risked Putin's attack on the neighboring country developing into a third world war.

The problem with the German attitude is "that we are slowing down the sanctions, slowing down the delivery of weapons and there is a risk that the war will drag on," he told ZDF.

Then the danger becomes ever greater "that other countries will be attacked and we will then slide into an extended de facto third world war".

Hofreiter, chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag, turned the argument suggested by Scholz around: Germany does not escalate when tanks or helicopters are delivered, but when it refuses such deliveries.

Scholz: "It would be wrong to go it alone"

Scholz tried on Tuesday to objectify the dispute over the arms deliveries.

But his appearance turned out to be so vague that the debate really boiled over.

The chancellor had indicated that while Berlin supported the delivery of heavy weapons by NATO, it would not provide them itself.

"German solo efforts would be wrong," he said.

The Bundeswehr can no longer give anything.

The government therefore sat down with the German defense industry and the Kiev leadership to see what German companies could deliver.

Ukraine has "appropriated a selection" from a list;

the federal government will pay for these weapons.

In addition, Berlin supports the eastern NATO countries in their efforts to hand over heavy weapons to Kyiv, which Germany will then replace for them.

The Eastern NATO countries have Russian and Soviet-made weapons with which the Ukrainian army is familiar.

With Western weapons, longer training is considered necessary.

Support for this view came from the Bundeswehr on Wednesday.

According to Deputy Inspector General Markus Laubenthal, after the delivery of tanks, the troops would no longer be able to meet their obligations in NATO.

"We would no longer be able to react to eventualities, and that would significantly weaken our ability to defend ourselves," Laubenthal told ZDF.

As far as the Marder armored personnel carriers are concerned, a large number of them are used to provide spare parts for the operation.

In addition, thorough training is required for the use of the tanks, which would take weeks even in the crash course.