Leopard tanks: Warsaw calls Berlin’s attitude “unacceptable”
The Polish Prime Minister called Sunday a“unacceptable” Berlin’s refusal to supply Leopard heavy tanks to kyiv, which insistently demanded them when the Russians were on the offensive.
“It has been almost a year since the war started. Innocent people die every day. Russian bombs wreak havoc in Ukrainian cities. Civilian objects are attacked, women and children are murdered”Mateusz Morawiecki told the Polish News Agency.
Two days earlier, in a meeting of about 50 countries at the US base in Ramstein, Germany, Ukraine’s allies announced substantial new arms deliveries to Ukraine but were not managed to agree on the delivery of heavy tanks, despite repeated requests from Ukraine.
The Polish Prime Minister said he was waiting “a clear statement” of Berlin authorizing the sending of Leopard tanks, of which it is a producer, by countries which have them. Poland, which declares itself ready to deliver fourteen units to kyiv, claims to be holding discussions with around fifteen countries on this subject.
” [En cas de refus de Berlin de fournir des Leopard à Kiev,] we will put together a small coalition of countries ready to donate some of their modern equipment, their modern tanks, to a struggling Ukraine”said Mr. Morawiecki.
On Saturday, the three foreign ministers of the Baltic countries had, for their part, urged Berlin “to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now”invoking “special responsibility” of Germany, “leading European power”.