Former Chancellor Markel's Adviser Against Germany Sending Heavy Weapons To Ukraine: Potentially Leading To World War III

Illustration of a German Leopard 1 tank. (Wikimedia Commons/Rainer Lippert)

JAKARTA - Former military policy adviser to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, retired Brigade General Erich Vad, opposes German plans to send heavy weapons to Ukraine.

"This kind of shipment has the potential to be a pathway to World War III," Vad told DPA, Tuesday, as reported by TASS April 12.

Vad further explained, it takes years of practice to be proficient at driving and using complex weapon systems, such as the Leopard battle tank or Marder armored vehicle.

Therefore, according to Vad, the delivery of these two heavy weapons will not benefit the Ukrainian troops, not now, not in the future.

According to the retired general, if Europe does not want World War III, it will sooner or later have to "escape this logic of military escalation and start negotiations."

"The chances for negotiations are actually not bad," Vad said, adding the conflicting parties should choose dialogue rather than "allowing to be drawn further into the mire of a long war with an uncertain outcome."

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a meeting of EU Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday argued that Kyiv needs heavy weapons and now is not the time to reason in this matter.

Also yesterday, Rheinmetall head Armin Papperger of Germany told Handelsblatt the company plans to deliver up to 50 used Leopard 1 battle tanks and up to 60 decommissioned Marder armored vehicles.

He expressed certainty that Ukrainian soldiers could be trained to ride the Leopard 1 in just a few days.

It is known, the German government approved the delivery of weapons to Ukraine 26 in February. Berlin made the decision to send 1,000 anti-tank guns and 500 Stinger human portable air defense systems.

Then on March 14, German authorities stated that they decided not to provide information about arms shipments to Ukraine in order to avoid additional risks.