Ukraine believes that Germany is fiddling with the Leopard decision only to say yes in the end. The formula is already familiar with Germany’s previous arms aid.
Suvi TurtiainenEurope correspondent
BERLIN Chancellor Paine Olaf Scholz to send Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine is now also growing in Germany. A turnaround can be decisive.
Vice-Chancellor, Green Party Robert Habeck said (you switch to another service) on Thursday, that Germany should not be an obstacle if other European countries want to send German-made Leopards to Ukraine.
The other government partner of Scholz’s social democrats is the liberal party FDP. Its ranks also become pressure (you switch to another service) To allow leopards.
Poland said earlier this week that it was ready to send Leopards to Ukraine.
Due to arms export agreements, the consent of the manufacturer Germany is required for the export of Leopards. Minister of Defense of Finland Mikko Savola your tweet (you will switch to another service) today, that Germany’s role is central to the Leopard decision also in terms of replacement equipment.
The president of the Republic Sauli Niinistö said on Thursday in an interview with STT that Finland could participate if a common European policy on handing over battle armor to Ukraine is created. However, according to Niinistö, Finland’s contribution cannot be large. Finland is not yet in NATO, and Finland has an immediate border with Russia.
German Chancellor Scholz has been wary of sending battle tanks to Ukraine. It is estimated that he is afraid of the expansion of the conflict between Russia and NATO.
For months, people in Germany have been speculating why Scholz draws the line on Leopard tanks. At the beginning of the year, Germany decided, in line with the United States, to send Marder assault tanks to Ukraine.
In an interview with STT, President Niinistö thought that there must be reasons why Germany and the United States have not yet decided on the handover of the Leopards to Ukraine.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba chose his words less diplomatically. He believes that it is once again Germany’s pursuit of arms aid.
According to Kuleba, Germany had similar difficulties with, for example, howitzers and IRIS-T air defense, but ended up giving them to Ukraine in the end. Kuleba believes the same will happen with the Leopards.
– The pattern is always the same: first they say no and strongly defend this decision, but in the end they say yes. We are still trying to understand why the German government is acting this way, Kuleba said to the German channel (you switch to another service).
Decisions may come next week, when the countries supporting Ukraine, led by the United States, meet at the Ramstein base in Germany to discuss additional aid.
You can discuss the topic until Saturday 14.1. until 11 p.m.