France and Poland push Germany to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine

BERLIN/PARIS – Less than a week after Germany agreed to supply Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, pressure is building on Berlin to step it up and send modern battle tanks.

France and Poland are pushing the EU’s biggest economy to equip Kyiv with its powerful Leopard 2 tanks, while Britain is reportedly considering sending about a dozen of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. Is. If Britain did, it would be much harder for Berlin to hide behind its current argument that it does not want to act alone in sending heavy weapons.

Nearly a year into Russia’s war against Ukraine, Western military analysts fear Moscow will attack again In the coming weeks or months, captured Kyiv’s ammunition reserves dwindled.

The supply of modern Western tanks such as the Leopard 2 would be a major boost for Ukraine’s military, as Kyiv’s allies were so far only willing to send older Soviet-era tanks that were still in stocks to Eastern European countries, as well as other Weapon systems like howitzers and air defense.

A French official told Politico that Paris is cracking down on Germany in hopes of extracting a deal from Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on January 22, after the two signed an Elysee partnership treaty. 60th anniversary of the nation.

Similar pressure is coming from Poland, which wants to form a broad coalition among Western allies to jointly hand over Leopards to Ukraine. “We encourage other countries to form a broad coalition for the transfer of more modern tanks such as Leopard tanks to Ukraine,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Pavel Jablonsky. Told Polish Public Radio on Monday.

Germany, Spain, Poland, Greece, Denmark and Finland are among several countries already using the nearly 60-tonne Leopard 2, which is armed with a 120-millimetre cannon as well as state-of-the-art defense systems and armour. This would allow the allies to jointly organize the delivery of both tanks and required ammunition, and to team up on necessary maintenance and repairs.

“The Ukrainians really want the Leopard because there are a lot of stocks across Europe,” said the French official, who is familiar with the tank discussions.

However, as the Leopard is being produced by Munich-based defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, their delivery to Ukraine calls for re-export authorization by the country of origin, Germany – meaning international pressure is now focused on Berlin. Used to be.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters on Saturday, “Poland can only hand over the leopard to a coalition of countries.”

“I talked about it with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a couple of weeks ago in Brussels, and I think we may learn more about it in the next few days,” Morawiecki said.

german line of defense

Asked about demands by partners such as Poland to form such a tank alliance, a German government spokesman said on Monday that he was “not aware of any such request at the moment”, but stressed adding that “we continually re-evaluate the situation and then reassess our approach internationally.” Coordinated decision making.

Just last Thursday German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden made an announcement joint statement that their countries would send infantry fighting vehicles – up to 40 German Marders and about 50 American Bradleys – to Ukraine; A day after French President Emmanuel Macron was overtaken By announcing the delivery of French AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles.

While German officials insist the announcement resulted from close coordination, a number of factors – such as Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht saying only a few weeks ago that it would be impossible for Germany to send any Merders to Ukraine, as it would need them for its own military. They were needed – suggesting that Berlin made the decision reluctantly and only amid mounting international pressure.

That suggestion was supported by a French official who, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Macron’s announcement last week to hand over French armored fighting vehicles was “intended” to break the taboo. [of sending Western tanks to Ukraine]So that the Germans began to advance.

“There is a collusion between Macron and Zelensky, and it was staged in part to overcome the reluctance of the US and Germany [on sending tanks]said the officer.

Ukraine has also asked Paris to send French Leclerc battle tanks to Ukraine, a request that is currently being investigated by French authorities. However, the French authorities warn that the Leclerc tanks are no longer in production, raising questions about maintenance and the provision of spare parts – Leopards, due to their wide availability in many countries and their continuous production, do not pose problems .

Still, France would be willing to deploy its Leclerc tanks to Nato allies, who send some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, to fill the gap, an official in Paris said.

A recent remarkable diplomatic breakthrough by Scholz, namely getting a broad coalition of China and other G20 countries to sign a statement urging Russia not to use nuclear weapons, an official in Berlin said. Has eased concerns that the delivery of more Western military equipment could be World War III for Ukraine.

However, a German government spokesman insisted on Monday that one of Berlin’s key goals was to avoid becoming an active party to the war, and said there was “no automatism” that would make delivery of the Leopard “the next logical step”. “Send Murder Tanks after the decision to make.

Meanwhile, German news outlet Der Spiegel Reported On Monday the UK government is considering supplying Ukraine with about a dozen Challenger 2 tanks, which would make Kyiv the first country to support it with Western main battle tanks.

“London has already announced the possible delivery to the partners,” Der Spiegel wrote, adding that the decision will probably be made official at a planned meeting of Western defense officials at the Ramstein military base in Germany on January 20. Will be done.

The UK Ministry of Defense neither denied nor confirmed the report, with a spokesman saying: “The government has committed to equal or exceed last year’s funding for military aid to Ukraine in 2023″. , and we will continue to build on recent donations with training and further gifting.” of equipment.”

Esther Weber in London and Jan Sienski in Brussels contributed reporting.