Germany’s foreign minister said Berlin will not stop Poland from sending German-made tanks to Ukraine, while Poland’s prime minister pledged to build a coalition of nations willing to donate some of Europe’s most advanced weapons – whether Germany participates or not .
The pressure on Germany is growing approve the transfer of his Leopard 2 main battle tank to Ukraine, which are being stockpiled by many European countries and which Kyiv sees as crucial to its war effort as fighting is expected to intensify again this spring. Polish officials were among the loudest voices urging Deregister Germanywhat he is legally obliged to do as the manufacturer of the tank.
“We will build a smaller coalition of countries willing to donate some of their modern equipment, modern tanks,” Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister, told the Polish Press Agency in an interview published on Sunday. “We will not stand by and watch Ukraine bleed to death.”
Defense officials meeting in Germany said Friday they missed it reach an agreement in the case of tanks with Berlin, which has so far resisted sending its own Leopards to Ukraine or granting the necessary export permits to other countries that have them.
On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock signaled that Berlin was open to at least allowing the allies to send the tanks to Ukraine. She told the French broadcaster LCI TV that Germany “would not stand in the way” if Poland decided to send them, although she added that Warsaw had not yet asked for such permission.
Her comments appeared to go beyond those made by Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a summit in Paris on Sunday, where he said any decision on the tanks would be made with the United States and other allies Reuters news agency reports.
President Emmanuel Macron of France said at the same summit he would consider sending French-made Leclerc tanks to Ukraine but would coordinate any decision with allies.
Also on Sunday, the new chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Texas Republican Michael McCaul, Dispute over ABC’s ‘This Week’ that the United States should send at least one M1 Abrams – their best tank – to Ukraine to convince Germany to give the Leopards the green light. Berlin has asked Washington to send Abrams tanks to Kyiv, a request the Biden administration has shown no interest in fulfilling.
Ukraine’s demands for tanks and more weapons from the West have gained urgency as spring approaches, when both sides in the conflict prepare for offensives, officials said. And Russia’s recent claims of conquering the small eastern towns Soledar and Klischchiivka – Part of a broader push to conquer the city Bachmut – have increased the growing pressure.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that while a few dozen Western tanks might not be decisive compared to Russia’s fleet of hundreds, they would aid Ukrainian forces on the battlefield and boost troop morale.
“They motivate our soldiers to fight for their own values,” Zelenskyj said in an ARD interview broadcast on Sunday. “Because they show that the whole world is with you.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov said Monday the pressure Germany is facing shows “nervousness” among Ukraine’s allies, but warned that Ukraine will ultimately face the consequences if the West sends in tanks .
“The main thing is that the Ukrainian people have to pay for all these actions, for all this bogus support,” he said saidaccording to the official news agency Tass.
Kassandra Vinograd and Matthew Mpoke Bigg contributed reporting.
