Why Germany has abandoned its post-WWII stance to give Ukraine heavy weapons — and what those weapons are

Berlin — After weeks resisting calls from Ukraine, the U.S. and from within his own country to send heavy weapons to help Ukrainian forces repel Russia's invasion, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has agreed to supply some serious armament. The government announced Tuesday that Germany would deliver 50 Flakpanzer Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine.  

The announcement came during a summit of Western nations hosted by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the U.S.'s Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany. It came after Austin appealed to America's closest military allies to "keep moving heaven and earth" to help Ukraine defend itself.

Germany's decision marked the end of a cross-party commitment not to supply weapons to active conflict zones that had held in Berlin since the end of World War II. In addition to pressure from the U.S., Scholz's coalition government was convinced to abandon that policy by Ukraine's ambassador in Berlin, and by the fact that several smaller European nations have been sending heavy weapons to Ukraine for weeks.