Germany has “already received our request,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter on Tuesday. He also called on Berlin to “join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks.” It’s about the security of all of Europe. According to dpa information, the Polish application from the German government was already available on Tuesday. According to Warsaw, it is negotiating such a coalition with around 15 countries.
Poland has been pressuring its allies on the matter for some time. The week before last, President Andrzej Duda said that Warsaw had decided to hand over 14 Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Monday that Warsaw would ask the German government for approval. In order to supply German-made tanks to other countries, permission from Berlin is required.
Scholz under pressure
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) hesitates. From Berlin it was said that they only wanted to deliver tanks in accordance with the USA. Not only the SPD base is opposed to this, the majority of the population is also skeptical as to whether Germany should play such an active role in the war in Ukraine.
Scholz himself also justified his hesitant attitude by saying that he did not want to contribute to the war escalating into a conflict between Russia and NATO. In the German “traffic light coalition”, however, he is alone in the field, which resulted in a tangible coalition dispute in Berlin. Because the Greens and FDP spoke out vehemently for the tank delivery.
“Won’t stand in the way”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had already expressed her openness to allowing Leopard tanks to be exported from Poland. In an interview with the French television station LCI, Baerbock said that Berlin would not oppose Poland supplying Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. “If you ask us, we wouldn’t stand in the way of that,” Baerbock said.
On Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced that Ukrainian soldiers would be trained on Leopard tanks in Poland. Reznikov told the US foreign broadcaster Voice of America that countries “that already have Leopard tanks can begin training missions for our tank crews”.
Stoltenberg also demands delivery
During a visit to Berlin on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called for the delivery of new weapons. “At this crucial moment in the war, we need to provide Ukraine with heavier and more advanced systems, and we need to do it faster,” Stoltenberg said after talks with new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) in Berlin.
“The only way to a lasting peace is to make it clear to Putin that he will not win on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said. Ukrainian forces would need to be able to repel the Russians “Not just to survive, but to win, retake territory and exist as a sovereign, independent state in Europe.”
Pistorius: Soon decision on tanks
Germany has so far hesitated to support Ukraine with Leopard 2 main battle tanks in the war against Russia. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is now expecting a decision from the Chancellery soon.
Stoltenberg acknowledged the help that Germany has provided to Ukraine so far. Among Ukraine’s allies, Berlin provides the “most extensive military, financial and humanitarian support” to Kyiv, he said. “Weapons from Germany save lives in Ukraine every day.” Regarding the delivery of Leopard main battle tanks, he was also “confident that we will soon have a solution”.
Pistorius: “Decision soon”
Pistorius also promised that Germany would make a quick decision on the delivery of the Leopard main battle tanks. “I expect that a decision will be made shortly,” said Pistorius after the conversation with Stoltenberg. He “expressly encouraged” other partner countries that already had battle tanks of this model to start training Ukrainian soldiers on them.
The survey of leopard stocks he initiated on Friday is “nearly complete,” said Pistorius. It is “not about counting how many tanks we have, we know that”. Rather, the federal government wants to examine “stocks and potential” of the armaments industry and examine the compatibility of the Leopard tanks. Germany will be “capable of acting very quickly”.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned of a further deterioration in German-Russian relations if the German government were to have Leopard main battle tanks delivered to Ukraine. “Such deliveries do not bode well for the future of relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian news agency Interfax. They would inevitably leave traces. The relationship is already at a certain low point. There is currently no dialogue either with Berlin or with other EU and NATO countries, said Peskow.
