After weeks of pressure, Berlin agrees to deploy Leopard 2s and enable re-exports, angering the Kremlin.
Germany will supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and authorise their re-export, a decision that Kyiv’s Western allies applauded and Russia denounced as a hazardous escalation.
Berlin’s historic decision on Wednesday will send 14 German-made tanks.
“This decision follows our longstanding support for Ukraine. “We are well connected internationally,” stated Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The government wanted Germany and its allies to give Ukraine two battalions, or 88 tanks.
It said that Germany will train and supply munitions to Ukrainian forces.
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s presidential administration chief, tweeted, “The first step on tanks has been taken…” We need many leopards.”
The Russian embassy in Germany said Berlin was abandoning its “historical obligation to Russia” from Nazi crimes in World War Two.
The embassy claimed the decision would aggravate the tension.
“This extremely risky decision raises the issue to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the declarations of German politicians regarding the refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to be drawn into it,” Ambassador Sergei Nechayev stated.
Scholz was under pressure for weeks to supply Kyiv and other NATO partners with tanks before of predicted spring offensives by both sides that may swing the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants 300 Western tanks to unleash a “true punching fist of democracy” to expel Russian soldiers.
The UK will send 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv, and the US may send dozens of M1 Abrams.
Moscow previously stated Western-supplied tanks will “burn” and denied they will affect the almost yearlong fight.
‘A huge step toward stopping Russia’
Germany’s decision allows Poland and Finland to use their Leopard tanks to support Ukraine.
Several European governments have expressed a willingness to contribute units to a coalition.
Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister, called Scholz’s move “appropriate”.
“Together, we are escalating our efforts to guarantee Ukraine wins this conflict and gets a durable peace,” he stated.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the decision “a huge step towards halting Russia.”
Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said Germany may now face questions about why it took “so long” to decide to deliver the tanks.
Kane stated, “Germany supplied numerous Leopard 2 tanks to other European Union and NATO countries, and they are the countries that were beseeching Olaf Scholz to do what he has done now.
“These deliveries should happen in the coming weeks and months.
“But Ukrainian tank operators will need training.”
