At what point does a country become a war party? Even with arms deliveries? Or only when your own troops take part directly in the fighting? The scientific service of the Bundestag has now investigated.
Just don’t become a war party. That is the declared aim of the western states, including Germany, in the Ukraine war. Since Russia’s attack at the end of March, the rulers have repeatedly ruled out NATO soldiers entering Ukrainian soil and taking part in the war. Just don’t become a war party.
But it is possible that the threshold of being considered a party to the war will soon be crossed – even without there being direct participation in the hostilities. An investigation by the Bundestag’s scientific service comes to the conclusion that the training of Ukrainian soldiers on Western weapons that are delivered to the combat zone could already constitute participation in the war under international law. This is reported by the editorial network Germany (RND), citing the service’s twelve-page report.
According to international law, pure deliveries of arms are not to be regarded as entry into a war – regardless of how many and which weapons are involved. International law expressly allows “supporting an attacked state without having to become a party to the conflict”.
When does a country become a party to the Ukraine war?
“Only if, in addition to the delivery of weapons, the instruction of the conflict party or training in such weapons were also an issue would one leave the secure area of non-warfare,” the RND continues to quote from the report.
This means that if the Bundeswehr, as announced, should train Ukrainian soldiers on the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks that Germany wants to supply to Ukraine, the role of so-called “non-warfare” could already be abandoned – and Germany’s approach could possibly be perceived by the Kremlin as warfare apply. Exactly what Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) definitely does not want.
Just over a week ago, he said in a “Spiegel” interview: “I said very early on that we must do everything we can to avoid a direct military confrontation between NATO and a highly armed superpower like Russia, a nuclear power.” Against this background, the RND writes of an “explosive Bundestag report”.
Vladimir Putin shouldn’t care about the definition under international law
Despite all the explosiveness, the West is already training Ukrainian army personnel anyway. The US Department of Defense said on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers are already practicing on western weapon systems. The training takes place at US military bases in Germany in consultation with the federal government, it said. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lamprecht (SPD) has already promised further support for the training of Ukrainian troops on German soil.
The federal government contradicts the opinion of the scientific service of the Bundestag anyway: It is clear that the federal government is “always in a difficult balance” when it comes to supporting Ukraine, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. “We are convinced that the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany on weapon systems still does not mean direct entry into the war.” When it comes to training, the government is assuming that you are still in the safe area of non-warfare.
It is uncertain whether and how Russian President Vladimir Putin will react to the West’s increased involvement in training the Ukrainian army. However, with the attack on the neighboring country, he proved that he doesn’t care at all about international legal conventions.
Sources: , (paid content), AFP news agency
Source: Stern
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