The eighth meeting of Western arms suppliers did not turn into the "Panzer-Ramstein" that the Ukrainian president had asked for, even begged for.
Berlin was still not bowing to the enormously growing pressure from home and abroad to give command of a concerted delivery of Leopard tanks.
The Scholz government looks worse every day.
The tank inventory ordered by the new Secretary of Defense on the morning of the conference may have been intended as an indication of an impending course correction.
The fact that Berlin did not even know how many Leopard tanks there are in Germany and in what versions is another oath of disclosure in this matter.
Pistorius had to take it off on the second day in office.
Ukraine won't hold out forever
The unfortunate Minister is right when he says that there are good reasons for delivery and good reasons against.
Unfortunately, there are also increasing numbers of bad reasons that speak in favor of – immediately – equipping the Ukrainians with modern battle tanks.
The fact that the country, which was attacked and destroyed more and more every day, cannot stand this war forever can even be seen from its president.
The Kremlin, however, is also clearly preparing for the next murderous blow against the state it wants to erase from the world map.
Western dissent on whether to support Ukraine with whatever (conventional) weapons you have may reinforce Putin's belief that he simply has to fight the war long enough for Ukraine to collapse and the supporter alliance to fall apart to see.
The Kremlin can only interpret the hesitation about the tanks as follows: that those who hesitate, above all Germany and the USA, are afraid of an escalation of the war by Moscow and/or that they fear that Kyiv, in a frenzy of victory, could no longer be stopped.
But fear is the last thing you can do to stop Putin.
With tanks that stand for the opposite, the chances are greater.