Ukraine has urged Germany for months to supply modern tanks - but Berlin has so far held back from sending them, or allowing other NATO countries to do so.
| The German government will not object if Poland decides to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany’s top diplomat said on Sunday , indicating movement on supplying weapons that Kyiv has described as essential to fend off an intensified Russian offensive.
Ukraine’s supporters pledged billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine during a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. International defence leaders discussed Ukraine’s urgent request for the Leopard 2 tanks, and the failure to work out an agreement overshadowed the new commitments. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that if the fellow NATO and European Union member did not consent to transferring Leopard tanks to Ukraine, his country was prepared to build a “smaller coalition” of countries that would send theirs anyway.
“Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe,” Mr Volodin said. Mr Macron spoke during a news conference in Paris with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as France and Germany commemorated the 60th anniversary of their post-World War II friendship treaty. In a joint declaration, the two countries committed to their “unwavering support” for Ukraine.Mr Scholz did not respond when asked about the Leopard 2 tanks on Sunday, but stressed that his country already has made sizable military contributions to Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said Friday’s US-led meeting at the air base in Germany “left no doubt that our enemies will try to exhaust or better destroy us,” adding that “they have enough weapons” to achieve the purpose.
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