Kyiv: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said her government has not received a formal request for approval from Poland to send tanks to Ukraine but added “if we were asked, we would not stand in the way.” during an interview with French TV channel LCI.
Subsequently, Germany’s top diplomat said her country would not object if Poland decided to send some of its Leopards to Ukraine late Sunday.
On the other hand, the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament warned Sunday that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons risked their own destruction, a message that followed new pledges of armoured vehicles, air defence systems, and other equipment but not the battle tanks Kyiv requested.
The speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, said that governments giving more powerful weapons to Ukraine could cause a “global tragedy that would destroy their countries.”
“Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe,” he said.
“If Washington and NATO supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons.” Vyacheslav Volodin added.
It may be mentioned here that Germany is one of the main donors of weapons to Ukraine, and it ordered a review of its Leopard 2 stocks in preparation for a possible green light. Nonetheless, the government in Berlin has shown caution at each step of increasing its commitments to Ukraine, a hesitancy seen as rooted in its history and political culture.
Germany’s tentativeness has drawn criticism, particularly from Poland and the Baltic states, countries on NATO’s eastern flank that feel especially threatened by Russia’s renewed aggression.
AP
