Almost a year ago, Russia attacked Ukraine, and since then there has been a state of emergency there. Many people are struggling to survive, are on the run and have had to pay with their lives.
A situation that many in the world cannot begin to imagine. In her ZDF talk show on Thursday, the moderator Maybrit Illner spoke to her guests about the current situation in Ukraine and the delivery of tanks to the Eastern European country.
ZDF correspondent Katrin Eigendorf in particular remembered her experiences in Ukraine. “It’s a slaughter, what we see there as journalists,” she explained. She herself will be going back to Kyiv next week.
At the moment, the only thing that matters to the Ukrainian population is survival, and an end to the war is out of the question. The situation is “like in the First World War” and “you really can’t imagine it being bad enough”.
“In the analysis, we all agree that we are dealing with a massively dangerous situation for Europe’s security order. Probably the most dangerous situation since the Second World War,” explained Eigendorf.
Nevertheless, the way the West treats their country is frustrating for the Ukrainian civilian population. Especially the fact that “in principle we can’t come to a bold solution.”
The residents see only one solution: “to support the country with weapons”. That is why the reporter supports the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.
“But it’s not enough,” she explained. Former US Admiral James Stavridis agreed: “I would also support the delivery of combat aircraft.”
The reason? Vladimir Putin is stronger in air combat than on the ground. In addition, it is not about attacking Russian territory, but about liberating Ukraine.
But are there really good chances that the West will or can successfully support Ukraine? Political scientist Nicole Deitelhoff: “At least we don’t know exactly.”
One cannot “look behind the process that is going on around Russia. For example, we don’t know what their ammunition stocks are.”
In addition, a lot of ammunition is used in Ukraine, which is why the West could soon experience a production bottleneck. “Right now we are trying to strengthen Ukraine so that it can hold its lines.”
The Panzerwende in Berlin was necessary, but according to CDU foreign policymaker Norbert Röttgen, this should have happened much earlier.
In the talk show he therefore criticized the hesitant attitude of Chancellor Olaf Scholz: “The Chancellor doesn’t want it. Not because it has anything to do with escalation, in my opinion, but because it doesn’t agree with his ideas about Russia policy. That’s the real reason. Everything else is an excuse.”
The original of this article “Do weapons in Ukraine have a chance of success? Expert on ZDF: “Don’t know”” comes from the teleschau.
