Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday for giving the green light to Berlin for the deployment of Leopard 2 armored vehicles, calling it an “important and timely” decision.
The Ukrainian leader learned of the authorization during an interview, initially denying its existence, but quickly realized what was going on. “Ah, my secretary just told me that he [Scholz] agreed to give us the Leopard armored vehicles, I will call you after this interview.”
Confessing himself “very happy” with the decision, he immediately took the opportunity to thank “everyone” for this shipment.
After the promised telephone conversation with the German chancellor, Zelensky stressed that the change in German position on this issue also includes “the green light for other allies to provide similar weapons”, since countries like Poland needed Germany’s endorsement to send the Leopards. in his country. possession.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dimitro Kuleba, acknowledged that a “coalition of tanks” had already been formed, referring to the different countries that had been willing to send the German-made armored vehicles.
“All those who doubted this would happen, look now: for Ukraine and its allies nothing is impossible,” Kuleba said.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy called on other countries to “join this coalition and deliver as much as possible” of Leopard 2.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksi Reznikov, who like Kuleba applauded the formation of a “coalition”, also thanked the allies for their gesture.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and almost eight million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which catalogs this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
Source: TSF
