The decision will be made shortly. On Thursday night, Berlin left the door open to the possibility of allowing the allies to supply Ukraine with German-made heavy tanks, saying that “will become clear in the next few hours or tomorrow morning.”
Ukraine’s allies will meet on Friday at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany, to decide on additional military aid to Kyiv.
Before the talks, pressure mounted on Berlin to approve the delivery of German-built Leopard 2 tanks. Poland and Finland have indicated that they are willing to supply such tanks to Ukraine, but they need Germany’s agreement to do so.
Asked if Berlin would allow European allies to send tanks, Germany’s newly appointed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the answer would be “clear in the next few hours or tomorrow (Friday) morning.”
In an interview with the ZDF television channel, Boris Pistorius clarified that “no one rules out the shipment of Leopard tanks, and that authorization or approval of the delivery can be given by other European partners.”
“But in the meantime, the questions remain unanswered,” he added.
Cooperation with the United States
The defense minister, who took office on Thursday, stressed, however, that the decision will be made in coordination with Western allies, in particular the United States.
Washington is “the main ally within NATO and so it is important that … we do this in close cooperation with the Americans,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told US lawmakers in Davos that Germany would only provide Ukraine with heavy tanks if the US sent them as well, a senior US official told AFP on Thursday.
But Washington said it was not currently ready to supply its Abrams heavy tanks to Ukraine. “I am sure that we will make a decision on this in the next few days,” Boris Pistorius said.
Source: BFM TV
