The great nightmare of the Cold War was that Russia's giant tank armies would not only crush its immediate neighbours, but would also sweep across the northern German plains and encircle western cities such as Hamburg and hold them hostage, confounding all calculations of the West about cautious escalation.
And now that the West has promised to supply Ukraine with an army of NATO tanks, there is a new version of that nightmare: Will the war spiral out of control?
In this context, writer Roger Boyes believes in an article in the British newspaper "The Times" that it is difficult for this relatively small number of tanks, promised by the West, to change the rules of the game.
He added that the real war in Ukraine today is not the Battle of Kursk in 1943, the largest of the land battles that determined the course and results of World War II, nor is it an imaginary war.
The truth, according to the writer, is that the West's fulfillment of its promise to supply Ukraine with 200 tanks or more by the spring will not make Ukraine better armed than Russia and therefore it will not be expected to change the rules of the game unless the West cooperates to enable Kyiv to exploit the superior technology, accuracy and firepower of the Leopard 2S tanks. German, British Challenger and American Abrams, as this would affect the balance of power and shatter Russian morale on the front line.
Boise concluded his article by noting that Putin will try to turn Ukraine into another of his frozen conflicts, and that this is what the West must fight with tanks and smart weapons, whatever the cost so that the Russian army does not flaunt its imperial power and crush and eliminate the spirit of resistance and national pride among the Ukrainians. The West also did not hand this country over to a vengeful, vexatious dictator;
Which would represent a shameful defeat for the entire West and the beginning of a new dark age.