Kyiv has not entered the rag of the affirmations of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, last Tuesday, in the sense that the Ukrainian army has lost at least 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles since it began its offensive a week ago. They are huge numbers. Nor has he paid attention to the casualties attributed by the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to the Ukrainian troops: 40,000 men.
The start of the counteroffensive seems slow, say specialized observers. Kyiv claims that it has recaptured 100 square kilometers, and yesterday there was an advance – of one kilometer, it was said – in the direction of Vuhledar, in the south of Donetsk province. Vuhledar is an important point, the scene of a frustrated and disastrous Russian offensive last autumn, and was one of the planned axes in the campaign of the southern front, since it is located on the axis of the coastal city of Mariupol.
But at this point, the Ukrainian difficulties in the face of the Russian bolt make one think of what President Volodimir Zelensky always says: that he needs more weapons. And, among them, more tanks.
Zelensky has courted half the world since the Russian invasion began, 478 days ago. His appearance at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, alongside Mohamed bin Salman, a month ago, was the most unexpected of all. But it lacked neutral Switzerland.
The Ukrainian president, in a telematic meeting with the Swiss Parliament, asked Switzerland to authorize the countries to which it has sold military material – arms and ammunition – to re-export it to Ukraine. “I know that the debate on the re-export of arms continues in Switzerland, but these are so that we can defend ourselves. I call for arms to be sent to us.”
Indeed, Zelensky knew very well what he was talking about. About three months ago, at a meeting at the Ministry of the Economy, a dozen Swiss manufacturers complained that they were losing business opportunities to other European firms because of neutrality laws, which prevent arms from being exported to countries at war or in serious internal conflict, but also its re-export by third countries. The matter has been debated in Parliament, and yesterday Zelenski’s intervention provoked a protest from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which accused the Ukrainian of wanting to put the country in the war.
Switzerland has been neutral for 200 years, but in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has not prevented it from joining international sanctions against Moscow and blocking Russian funds worth more than 500 million euros. However, it has so far rejected requests from Germany, Denmark and Spain to re-export ammunition or military vehicles to Ukraine.
At the heart of the matter are 96 German-made Leopard tanks held by the Swiss armed forces. The Ukrainians have complained that Germany would have about 300 tanks and has only given 18, so turning to the Swiss would be a solution. However, already last November, Switzerland denied Germany the re-export of 12,400 shells for the Gepard armored anti-aircraft, which is German. The solution with the tanks would be for the manufacturer, the German firm Rheinmetall, to buy them…
The vision of Switzerland in defense matters goes back to topics such as the nuclear shelters available to the country, of less than nine million inhabitants, or compulsory military service. However, it has an arms industry – in part, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Rheinmetall – that involves about a hundred companies and that in 2022 exported to 60 countries – the first of them, Qatar – worth a billion dollars. euro.
