BERLIN, Feb 5 After agreeing to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine Germany's partners in the EU have suddenly fallen silent, said Kevin Künert, secretary general of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD, part of the government coalition).
Earlier, the German magazine Spiegel, citing its own information, reported that Berlin is questioning the implementation of the plan to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks to form two tank battalions. It was noted that doubts arose in the department of the Chancellor and the Ministry of Defense of Germany due to the lack of commitments on deliveries from European partners. Against this backdrop, the German government launched a «diplomatic offensive» to realize the planned supplies.
«In recent weeks, it sometimes seemed that the whole world wants to send (tanks — ed.), but not the Federal Republic of Germany. Now we see that Germany has taken on specific obligations and that a tank company will indeed be delivered. And suddenly it became around us very quietly,» Kuhnert said on the air of the second German channel ZDF, commenting on the fact that many of Germany's partners in the EU have not yet committed themselves to the supply of tanks.
The politician added that Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius are now negotiating almost daily, especially with EU partners. “Indeed, it must be said that now all this is being assembled in separate parts, which is necessary for both tank divisions, battalions, which were promised so that it would really be possible to send them to Ukraine,” the Secretary General explained.
At the same time, he specified that the equipment and ammunition are limited. «There is nowhere such a large warehouse where everything would be ready, and someone would refuse to deliver it. Stocks are scarce,» Künert added.
At the end of January, the German government announced that it had decided to transfer German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany intends to form two tank battalions. At the first stage, they plan to provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 type A6 from the stocks of the Bundeswehr. In addition, Berlin agreed to grant permission for the re-export of German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv to those countries that plan such deliveries from their stocks.
Russia sent a note to NATO countries because of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation stated that the NATO countries are «playing with fire» by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect. jpg» />
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