Germany’s nod sought to send tanks to Kyiv

WARSAW: Poland will ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

Morawiecki didn’t specify when the request would be made, but said Warsaw was building a coalition of nations ready to send such tanks.

Even if there is no permission from Berlin, Poland will make its own decisions on the matter, he said without elaborating.

“We will ask [Germany] for permission, but this is a secondary [priority],” Morawiecki said. “Even if, eventually, we do not get this permission, [and] even if Germany is not in this coalition, we will hand over our tanks, together with the others, to Ukraine.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told French television channel LCI on Sunday that Poland was yet to formally ask for Berlin’s approval to share some of its German-made Leopards, but said that “if we were asked, we would not stand in the way.”

Regarding Baerbock’s comments, Morawiecki said “exerting pressure makes sense” and that her words raised the hope that Germany might even join in the coalition.

Baerbock “sent a different message that offers a spark of hope that not only Germany would no longer block, but — maybe, finally — would [also] offer heavy, modern equipment in support of Ukraine,” Morawiecki told a news conference in the western city of Poznan.

“We are constantly exerting pressure on the government in Berlin to make its Leopards available,” he said.

According to the premier, Germany has “more than 350 active Leopards and about 200 in storage.”

The Ukrainian government says tanks, and especially the German-made Leopards, are vital if it is to prevail over the Kremlin’s invading forces.

Baerbock made positive comments about the possibility of sending tanks to Ukraine. German officials “know how important these tanks are” and “this is why we are discussing this now with our partners,” she said in interview clips posted by LCI.

Ukraine’s supporters pledged billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine during a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in western Germany on Friday.

International defense leaders discussed Ukraine’s urgent request for the Leopard 2 tanks, and the failure to work out an agreement overshadowed the new commitments.

Germany is one of the main donors of weapons to Ukraine, and it ordered a review of its Leopard 2 stocks in preparation for possible approval. Nonetheless, the German government has shown caution at each step of increasing its military aid to Ukraine, a hesitancy seen as rooted in its history and political culture.

The country’s tentativeness has drawn criticism, particularly from Poland and the Baltic states — countries on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastern flank— that feel especially threatened by Russia’s renewed aggression.

In response to the pledges of sophisticated Western weapons for Kyiv’s military, Russia has stepped up its warnings that escalation risks catastrophe.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday reaffirmed Moscow’s claim that the Western supplies could lead to “unpredictable” consequences.

“We have said on numerous occasions that escalation is the most dangerous path, and the consequences may be unpredictable,” Ryabkov said. “Our signals are not listened to, and Russia’s adversaries keep raising the stakes.”

With both sides’ battlefield positions mostly deadlocked during the winter months, the Kremlin’s forces have kept up their bombardments of Ukrainian areas.