Berlin has no immediate plans to send German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. That’s according to Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is a member of Germany’s ruling coalition.
Supplying heavy armor to Kiev would require prior coordination with foreign NATO allies, the top member of the country’s ruling coalition says. No country is delivering heavy battle tanks such as the Leopard 1 or 2” to Zelensky’s government, he explained.
Klingbeil told the N-TV broadcaster on Saturday that supplying Leopard tanks to Ukraine would require NATO coordination with foreign allies, and cannot happen unilaterally. But, the SPD co-leader didn’t rule out German deliveries of heavy armor to Ukraine in the future
Despite announcing the delivery of 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and a US-made Patriot air defense battery to Kiev earlier this week, Berlin has been under pressure to do even more for Kiev in its conflict with Moscow, and also provide heavy armor.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday that Warsaw would not be giving Kiev its Leopard 2 tanks without a broader coalition of countries willing to do the same.
He was echoed by the chairman of Finland’s committee on defense affairs, Antti Hakkanen, who said Helsinki would provide its Leopards if such a decision were made on the European level.
Even in this case, the Finnish contribution would be small as it prioritizes its own defense.
Germany announced the planned delivery of Marder light tanks, in a joint statement with the USA, which confirmed it will be sending Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. A day earlier, France revealed it will send Kiev AMX-10 armored fighting vehicles.
The deliveries are a signal that the Western alliance is acting in close coordination and continues to strengthen Ukraine, Klingbeil said in interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) network.
No NATO countries have so far announced plans to supply Ukraine with Western-built main battle tanks. An unnamed US official explicitly ruled out the transfer of the US M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev, the Washington Post reported this week.
Russia’s embassy in Berlin suggested that Germany only agreed to send Marders to Kiev under significant pressure from Washington DC, acting in line with the destructive rationale of transatlantic solidarity.
This is the moral line the German authorities shouldn’t have crossed, considering the war crimes that the Nazis committed in the Soviet Union during World War II, the statement added.
RT. com / ABC Flash point News 2023.
Most European armies, including the US military have been depleted from their weapons and armored vehicles, shot to pieces by the Russians?
If you are begging for tanks you are losing.
Your right although this is played down by western media –corruption in Ukraine is rife many small arms are available on the Dark Net while those Ukrainians forced to fight are only given a rifle and a small number of ammunition ,the mercenaries are better equipped.
Germany admitted it takes many months to manufacture heavy weapons and their reserve is depleted even US Congress admitted its running low in reserve military equipment .Zelensky,s wife spent around $50,000 in one day on clothes in Paris not long ago — she thanks the American tax payers for paying for them.
Like in the old days, during WW II, Nazi industrialists also visited Paris, promoting commercial tourism, invented by Goebbels to cool down the relations between the two countries. Only parts of France were occupied, especially the coast line with the so-called Atlantic Wall.
European slaves can’t do much without getting permission 1st from their masters in Washington ! Scholtz needs approval from his Boss (Biden) .