German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had reportedly come under increasing pressure from his Green and Free Democrat government coalition partners to approve the tank delivery for Ukraine in recent days. Ukraine has called on its allies in the West to supply it with advanced tanks as they predict a fresh offensive by invading Russian forces in the spring.īut Berlin and Washington have been hesitant to meet Kyiv's requests. Next - the 'tank coalition.' We need a lot of Leopards," the head of Ukraine's presidential administration Andriy Yermak said on social media, referring to other countries such as Poland that have said they would also send the tanks with Berlin's approval.īritain, France and Poland similarly hailed Germany's move following the announcement. Kyiv welcomed Germany's decision, calling it the "first step" in the process of arming Ukraine with the advanced battle vehicles. "The aim is to quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement. “Once again, we are convinced that Germany, like its closest allies, is not interested in a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis,” Nechayev said, adding that by supplying heavier weapons to Ukraine, Berlin “destroys the remnants of mutual trust and causes irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations.”īerlin said it will provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr stocks and is also granting approval for other European countries to send tanks from their own stocks to Ukraine. Nechayev claimed that the transfer will inevitably lead to “the death of not only Russian soldiers, but also the civilian population.” “This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation,” Russia’s Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev said in a statement Wednesday. Russian officials warned of a possible escalation in its war on Ukraine as Germany agreed to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine following weeks of pressure from Kyiv and its allies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |