Poland will ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.
The Polish prime minister did not specify when the request would be made, but stated that Poland is building a coalition of countries willing to send Leopard tanks.
Even if there is no permission from Germany, Warsaw will make its own decisions, Morawiecki stressed, without giving further details.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told French television channel LCI on Sunday that Poland has not formally sought Berlin’s approval to send some of its German-made leopards. obstacle.
The Polish prime minister said Germany’s position to “apply pressure makes sense” as the German minister’s words are a “glitter of hope” that Germany can join the coalition.
It involves sending German-made Leopard 02 tanks to aid Ukrainian troops, which Berlin has been resisting. Last week it was impossible to unblock the shipment of these combat vehicles at a meeting of NATO member states in Ramstein, Germany.
Berlin has been pressured by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to authorize the sending of these tanks and by Washington, as well as most EU and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries. On the other hand, Moscow has already warned that the Kremlin’s supply of tanks could be seen as an escalation of tensions.
The foreign ministers of the member states of the European Union (EU) are meeting in Brussels today to discuss, among other things, support for Ukraine.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began almost a year ago, remains the main topic at meetings of EU foreign ministers and the first meeting in 2023 will be no exception. On the table is the support Member States have given Kiev for almost a year and how it can be improved in the future.
Source: DN
