Germany has damaged relations with the Ramstein postponement
A negotiation consists of different phases, the preparation is before the negotiation. The German government has now postponed a negotiation with the Ukraine Contact Group in Ramstein. The German Defence Minister Pistorius said he had given the order to examine the question of how many Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks would be available at all from the Federal Armed Forces and industrial stocks.
A postponement is necessary in a negotiation process if unpredictable points are introduced during the negotiations. For a decision in Ramstein, the points were discussed for weeks in advance. The list of stocks has been available to the Ministry of Defence for months.
If a new demand is introduced, a pause in negotiations can be taken and internal discussions can take place. If there is a pause, the negotiating partners remain in place; if there is a postponement, they part company.
The Ukraine Contact Group consists of 50 partners. 49 negotiating partners were prepared, Germany was not.
Many partners left disappointed, relations with Germany have been damaged.
As always in my comments, I am only assessing the conduct of the negotiations, not the decision. The German government can say “yes” or “no” to the delivery of Leopard tanks. According to Pistorius, there are “good reasons for the delivery and good reasons against”.
A decision for or against was expected from 49 partners. A postponement was wrong.
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