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Poland wants to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Germany agrees
Poland wants to send its German-built Leopard tanks to Ukraine, although Germany doesn’t want to do it itself and won’t give permission. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made that clear in a Twitter post on Sunday: “We will not stand by while Ukraine bleeds to death,” he wrote on Twitter.
Poland wants to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Germany agrees
00:00 | Poland wants to send its German-built Leopard tanks to Ukraine, although Germany doesn’t want to do it itself and won’t give permission. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made that clear in a Twitter post on Sunday: “We will not stand by while Ukraine bleeds to death,” he wrote on Twitter.
However, Germany will not interfere if Poland sends its German-made tanks to Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock clarified this on Sunday in an interview with French television station Lci. Baerbock: ‘At the moment the request has not yet been forwarded, but if it does we will not interfere’.
The Germans said in a meeting with other NATO countries on Friday at the US Ramstein airbase in western Germany that they had not yet made a decision on the delivery of their Leopard tanks. According to Kiev, these are vital for the reconquest of territory conquered by Russia.
Until now Germany had also refused to allow other countries, such as Poland, to export their Leopards. Many Germans fear that sending heavy weapons also suitable for attack, such as Leopards, could provoke Russia and lead to an escalation of the war.
Sunday 22 January
Germany and France pledge support to Ukraine, including military ones
19:00 | Germany and France said on Sunday they would support Ukraine as long as needed during its war with Russia and support the prosecution of war criminals. Ukraine can count, among other things, on economic and military aid, the two nations said in a joint statement after a meeting in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he would not rule out the delivery of Leclerc-type tanks to Ukraine, but added that such delivery should not endanger France’s security. Germany, which has been under pressure for weeks to send Leopard tanks, has been even more silent: “The principle remains that we act in coordination with our allies on armaments,” Scholz said.
Ukraine has long been asking the West for heavy weapons, such as tanks. NATO countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have declared themselves willing to do so, but the large EU countries France and above all Germany have so far taken a more cautious stance. They fear, among other things, that the conflict in Ukraine will escalate if they supply heavy weapons that can also be used for attack.
The meeting in the French capital marked the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, signed in 1963 by French President Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. The treaty formalized the friendship between the two countries and served as a building block for increased European cooperation.
Macron said in a ceremony at the Sorbonne in Paris that Germany and France were “two souls in one bosom” to him. “When a Frenchman talks about Germany, he talks about a part of himself,” he told more than 30 ministers from both governments and some 200 parliamentarians.
Macron also announced that Germany will join the European hydrogen pipeline project H2Med. This means that the hydrogen pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille will be extended to Germany, the French president said.