Monitoring Desk
BERLIN: Western allies have promised billions of dollars in arms for Ukraine and some pledged to send the tanks Ukraine has requested if Germany agrees, but Berlin gave no signal of lifting a veto on deliveries it fears would incite Russia, western media reported on Thursday.
Western allies and Ukraine
The matter looks set to dominate Friday’s discussion in Berlin between Western countries at Ramstein, US’s main European air base.
Kyiv is pushing for the German-made Leopard tanks, which are held by an array of NATO countries but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Berlin’s approval.
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy told a German television on Thursday that their people are dying daily and “if you have Leopard battle tanks, give them to us.” He further said that they needed the tanks to defend themselves, recapture occupied areas, and did not plan to carry out attack against Russia.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been reluctant to send arms that could be seen as provoking Russia. However, many of German’s Western allies add that concern is misplaced, with Moscow already fully committed to war, while Russia has said several times that Western arms transfers would prolong the conflict and increase suffering in Ukraine.
Earlier, sources in German Government said that they would send tanks to Ukraine if the US also sends its Abrams battle tanks to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted over the matter and said that true leadership is about leading by example.
Ahead of Friday’s meeting eleven Nato countries including the UK and Poland, promised a bundle of the new military package at a military base in Estonia on Thursday.
