German military tank. File photoMOSCOW, June 6Germany refuses to supply its tanks to Ukraine due to fear of the «appearance» of military vehicles in Russia, Spiegel magazine writes, citing sources in the German government. According to them, Berlin believes that the Ukrainian leadership can use German equipment to attempt to invade Russian territory, which will be a reminder of the actions of fascist Germany during the Great Patriotic War. «This will mean that German tanks will again be on the territory of Russia,» the article says. Spiegel's interlocutors clarified that the German government cannot trust Kyiv in this matter.
The Vice Chancellor of Germany said that Berlin cannot fulfill all the wishes of Kyiv»This fear demonstrates a certain distrust in Berlin towards the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. And this was also the reason why the German defense industry did not receive permission to supply battle tanks,» the sources explained .Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin Andriy Melnik called the refusal of the German authorities to supply Kyiv with Leopard-1 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles «a shame that will go down in history.» />In Germany, they announced a «double game» in relation to UkraineRussia has been conducting a military operation in Ukraine since February 24. According to the Ministry of Defense, by the end of March, the Russian army had completed the main tasks of the first stage — it significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the department was called the liberation of Donbass. Against this background, the United States and its NATO allies supply weapons to Ukraine. President Joe Biden signed the law on lend-lease, tens of billions of dollars are allocated for military assistance to Kyiv. As Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, any shipments of weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. The Kremlin stressed that pumping Kyiv with weapons from the West is not conducive to the success of the negotiations and will have a negative effect. How the West actually helps Kyiv
