Leopard tank: Warsaw calls Berlin’s attitude “unacceptable”
The Polish prime minister on Sunday described Berlin’s refusal to supply heavy Leopard tanks to Kyiv as “unacceptable”, which it has been urging at a time when the Russians are on the offensive.
“Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the war. Innocent people die every day. Russian bombs devastate Ukrainian cities. Civilian objects are being attacked, women and children are being murdered,” Mateusz Morawiecki told the Polish News Agency.
Two days earlier, at a meeting of about 50 countries at the US base in Ramstein, Germany, Ukraine’s allies announced large new arms supplies to Ukraine, but failed to agree on heavy tank supplies despite repeated requests from Ukraine.
The Polish prime minister said he was waiting for a “clear statement” from Berlin authorizing the shipment of Leopard tanks that it manufactures through countries that have them. Poland, which has agreed to deliver fourteen units to Kyiv, says it is in talks with about fifteen countries on the subject.
” [En cas de refus de Berlin de fournir des Leopard à Kiev,] We will put together a small coalition of countries willing to donate some of their modern equipment, their modern tanks, to a struggling Ukraine,” Morawiecki said.
The three foreign ministers of the Baltic states called on Berlin to “supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now” on Saturday, citing Germany’s “special responsibility” as the “first European power”.