This week on the show, we look at the deployment of western main battle tanks to Ukraine, specifically the importance placed on the Leopard II and the contentious diplomacy seen this week to pressure Germany into allowing its export. What kind of capabilities will these new weapons give to Ukraine, amid fears of Russian offensive looming in the spring?

We also discuss Germany and the intense pressure Olaf Scholz’s government has been under since the invasion of Ukraine started. How has Germany’s standing changed over the last twelve months, and what are the challenges facing the country as a long and cold winter sets in for relations with Russia?    

Joining Bronwen Maddox from Berlin this week is Jeremy Cliffe, Writer-at-Large for The New Statesman Magazine. Alongside them is Orysia Lutsevych, the Head of our Ukraine Forum, Ed Arnold, a Research Fellow for European Security at the Royal United Services Institute, and Marion Messmer, a Senior Research Fellow in the International Security Programme here at Chatham House.

Read our expertise:

Scholz will bow to pressure to send tanks to Ukraine

What is Labour’s foreign policy?

UK-Europe relations finally head in the right direction

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Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Abdul Boudiaf and Robin Gardner.