Germany ready to let Poland send Leopard tanks to Ukraine: foreign minister
Poland is ready to deliver 14 Leopard tanks to Kyiv; German Foreign Minister says Germany ‘won’t stand in the way’.
Germany is ready to authorise Poland to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion if Warsaw makes such a request, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Sunday.
“If we are asked the question, then we will not stand in the way,” Baerbock told LCI television after a Franco-German summit meeting in Paris.
“We know how important these tanks are and this is why we are discussing this now with our partners. We need to make sure people’s lives are saved and Ukraine’s territory liberated.” Baerbock, who represents the Greens in Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition, said that Poland had yet to make a formal request.
Her comments come as Berlin resists pressure from Kyiv to send some of its own stocks of the Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Poland has announced it is ready to deliver 14 Leopard tanks to Kyiv but Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he was waiting for “a clear statement” from Berlin whether countries that have the Leopards can transfer them to Ukraine.
He also described Germany’s refusal to send its own tanks to Ukraine as “unacceptable”.
“Innocent people are dying every day,” told the PAP agency.
In a joint statement Saturday, the foreign ministers of the three Baltic states urged Germany “to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday there was “no alternative” but for the West to give Ukraine heavy tanks.
Reports earlier in the week indicated Germany would agree to do so only if the US provided its tanks as well. Washington has said providing its Abrams tanks to Ukraine is not feasible, citing difficulties in training and maintenance.
Russia has suffered 180,000 killed or wounded in Ukraine so far, while the figure for the Ukrainians is 100,000 military casualties and 30,000 dead civilians, according to estimates released Sunday by Norway’s army chief.
“Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers,” Norwegian Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen said in an interview with TV2, without specifying how the numbers were calculated.
Norway, a country bordering Russia, has been a member of NATO since its founding in 1949.
“Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded. In addition Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war,” said the Norwegian general.
Moscow and Kyiv have not provided reliable accounts for their losses for months. In November, US army joint chiefs of staff chairman Mark Milley said the Russian army had suffered more than 100,000 dead or wounded, with a “probably” similar toll on the Ukrainian side.
These figures cannot be independently verified.
Despite heavy losses “Russia is able to continue (this war) for quite a long time,” Kristoffersen said on Sunday, citing Moscow’s mobilisation and arms production capacities.
“What worries most is whether Ukraine is going to be able to keep the Russian air force out of the war,” he said, adding that they have been able to so far “thanks to Ukrainian anti-aircraft defences”.
The bulk of Russian strikes in recent months have been carried out by long-range missiles.
The Norwegian general also called for the rapid delivery of combat tanks to Ukraine, which has so far been held up mainly by Germany.“ If they’re going to go on the offensive in the winter, they (Ukrainians) need it fast,” Kristoffersen added
AFP
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