Brussels.
In the debate about the Leopard tank, NATO boss Stoltenberg announces an important date – and warns against misjudgments about the war.
For the delivery of modern western main battle tanks to Ukraine next week first decisions fall. With a view to demands to also make Leopard tanks available to the country, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Tuesday that next week there would be talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov at the US military base in Ramstein (Rhineland-Palatinate). . He was to discuss what weapons Ukraine needed right now and how the allies could provide these weapons.
However, what Resnikov will say is already clear: he and the Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv have been pushing for a long time Leopard tank. There are indications in London that at the meeting of the “Ramstein Group” of Ukraine supporters on January 20, the British government will announce that it will deliver about a dozen Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. That should increase the pressure on the federal government to give the go-ahead for the delivery of Leopard tanks, either alone or together with other EU countries. Poland and Spain, among others, are considering such a step. Also read:
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However, Stoltenberg emphasized that it was possible not just about new weapon systemsbut also about the maintenance of weapons and the supply of ammunition: “We have to make sure that the weapons that have already been delivered work.” At the same time, the NATO Secretary General warned against miscalculations about the further course of the Ukraine war: “We must not underestimate Russia .”
Despite all the losses, Russia shows the will to continue the war against Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin is mobilizing more soldiers and making great efforts to acquire new equipment and ammunition. “Putin has not changed the aim of his brutal war”, said Stoltenberg. “We must prepare for a long war.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen At the joint appearance at NATO headquarters, he indirectly advocated the delivery of main battle tanks as well: “Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, I have said many times that Ukraine should get all the necessary military equipment that it needs and can use to protect itself to defend,” she said when asked about Leopard 2 tanks.
Stoltenberg, von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel signed a new cooperation declaration at NATO headquarters in which the Union and the transatlantic alliance announced even closer cooperation in order to commit themselves to “geo-strategic competition”, especially with Russia and China arm. There should be closer coordination with the Defense against cyber attacks and the protection of critical infrastructure, but also in space and in the security policy consequences of climate change.
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