Der Spiegel reports Germany does not trust Zelensky
According to government officials, Germany has been hesitant to send tanks to Ukraine to oppose Russian forces for "historical reasons."
As per anonymous sources, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's administration is concerned that if Kiev wins a string of successes, it may become overconfident and undertake an assault into Russian territory. Der Spiegel noted on Friday, in an apparent reference to Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, such a development “would mean that German tanks would once again be inside Russia.” The fear that German weaponry could be dispatch into Russia “highlights a certain distrust in Berlin of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. And that, too, is a reason why the defense industry in Germany has not been authorized to deliver battle tanks,” the report stated. As of now, tanks have only been delivered to the Kiev administration by Poland and the Czech Republic, rather than major arms exporters such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
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