Germany has a historic responsibility to defend a free and sovereign Ukraine. The major European powers, for their part, are ideally placed to shape a broader European policy aimed at ending Vladimir Putin’s criminal war on terrorism and preventing further incursions into places like Taiwan. Thus, the Berlin government should assume strong defensive support for Ukraine by offering Leopard 2 tanks on its own, rather than moving them through Poland and Finland. Let’s call this initiative the European Leopard Project. Germany’s historical responsibility stems from three moments in modern history. 80 years ago, Nazi Germany waged a terrorist war on Ukrainian soil: the same cities and villages that the Russian army is destroying today fell victim to the Nazi attack. While no historical analogy can be accurate, Putin’s attempt to destroy the autonomous existence of a neighboring state through war crimes, acts of genocide, and relentless targeting of civilians is disturbingly reminiscent of Hitler’s actions during World War II. The lesson we learn from history is not that German tanks should never be used against Russia, but that they should be used to protect the Ukrainians, who, after all, were among the biggest victims of Hitler and Stalin. .

The second point that is now forcing Germans to take responsibility is the “bitter failure”, in the apt phrase of German President Steinmeier, of Germany’s policy towards Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. appeasement of Moscow. At the same time, instead of reducing its dependence on Russian energy resources, Germany increased it after 2014, when Russian gas covered 50% of Germany’s needs and with the construction of the ill-fated Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. fatal and the very last moment.

A month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a group of figures from Germany called for an immediate boycott of fossil fuel imports from Russia. “Looking to the past, Germany has promised that it will no longer allow wars of conquest and crimes against humanity. The time has come to fulfill our obligation, ”says the resolution that I signed. Chancellor Scholz dismissed the tactic, saying it would jeopardize “hundreds of thousands of jobs” and plunge Germany and the rest of Europe into recession. Instead, the country, under the auspices of Treasury Secretary Robert Habek, has made impressive strides in cutting off Russian energy. However, at the same time, the cost of Russian fuel, already indebted to Germany, rose sharply due to the war. Germany paid Russia 19 billion euros for oil, gas and coal in the first six months of the war, according to an analysis by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research. The total defense budget of Russia for the first half of 2021 amounted to 30 billion euros. Since most of the Russian budget is covered by energy revenues, the inevitable conclusion is that Germany was contributing to the Russian defense budget while Putin was waging another terrorist war eighty years after the withdrawal of Hitler’s troops. Although other European states also continued to buy Russian gas, none of them had such a historical responsibility to Ukraine as Germany.

The major European powers must ensure Ukraine’s survival by providing it with the means to defend itself.

It is true that the position of the German government regarding military assistance to Ukraine has changed significantly from the eve of the Russian invasion until today. Germany is one of the most important allies of Ukraine in humanitarian and economic terms. However, when it comes to arms exports, Berlin has distinguished itself by its indecisiveness and confusion to become a permanent tail in the western procession. As Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said emphatically: “The Germans first say ‘no’ and ardently support their decision in order to say ‘yes’ at the end.” It is worth noting that Germany has a powerful military industry that exports its products to not very democratic regimes around the world. Why, then, is he slow to strengthen European democracy against the new Hitler? Berlin is concerned about a possible — even nuclear — Russian escalation in response to the deployment of more powerful Western weapons, and the Biden administration in Washington shares those concerns. But there is no safe way forward. By systematically targeting civilians in Ukraine, Putin has already escalated the conflict, and one must assume that he is planning another attack in due course. The only viable solution is to increase military aid to Ukraine so that Kyiv regains much of its lost territory and can negotiate from a position of strength. The alternative would be permanent instability and the defeat of Ukraine. Dictators will be humiliated and Taiwan will be the next target.

In his speech in Davos on Wednesday, Chancellor Soltz, unfortunately, showed no resolve. But if he leads the European Leopard Plan for Ukraine, he will show the entire West that he has learned the right lessons from the modern history of his country.

Mr. Timothy Garton Ash is Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford.