Germany, under pressure from its allies, said on Friday that it is “weighing the pros and cons” of handing over the Leopard tanks that Ukraine is demanding to face the Russian invasion.
(In context: Ukraine: in a meeting of allies, Zelensky demands tanks to ‘stop evil’)
“We are not hesitating, we are only weighing the pros and cons”said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the Ramstein airbase (west), where Ukraine’s allies discussed strengthening support for that former Soviet republic invaded by Russia since February 2022.
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“We have a responsibility to think carefully about the consequences for all parties to the conflict,” he added. “The impression” that Germany opposes the delivery of tanks to Ukraine is “false,” Pistorius stressed.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he was “convinced” that the allies would be able to create a coalition to deliver modern German-designed Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
(Also read: Russia warns of escalation of the conflict if they send long-range weapons to Ukraine)
Poland had already indicated that it could send the Leopards it has, if Berlin gives it the go-ahead.
According to experts, the Leopard 2 could have a major impact on the fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has intensified its offensive after suffering several setbacks.
We have a responsibility to think carefully about the consequences for all parties to the conflict.
At the start of the meeting of defense ministers and senior military officials from more than 50 countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for speeding up deliveries of heavy weapons, especially tanks and long-range missiles.
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“It is in your hands” to be able to “launch this important delivery that will stop the evil,” Zelensky said in a video conference message.
The Kremlin, for its part, was quick to respond that these deliveries will not change anything on the ground, but will “create new problems for Ukraine”. Western countries feed the “illusion” of a possible Ukrainian victory on the ground, declared the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov.
‘Do more for Ukraine’
On the ground, the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut (east), the current epicenter of the war, was bombed again, AFP journalists verified. The Russian occupation authorities also noted a “sharp increase in intensity” of the fighting in the Zaporizhia region (south), with clashes “along the entire front line.”
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The United States expects a Ukrainian counteroffensive around next spring, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Ramstein, urging increased military aid at “a decisive moment for Ukraine.”
But the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Mark Milley, considered that “This year it will be very, very difficult to completely drive the Russian forces out of all the occupied areas of Ukraine.”
The United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark had already announced in the previous days new military aid for kyiv.
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Washington unlocked a new package worth $2.5 billion, which includes 59 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and a large number of armored personnel carriers, according to the Pentagon.
With this latest package, the total US military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion — which began on February 24, 2022 — amounts to more than $26.7 billion.
Nevertheless, This new support does not include heavy tanks, such as the Abrams, which Washington refuses to hand over to kyiv citing maintenance and training reasons.
The UK will send an additional 600 Brimstone-type missiles, Denmark 19 Caesar guns and Sweden Archer long-range guns. Finland joined this new aid on Friday, with a package that will include heavy artillery and ammunition.
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‘Russian agents’ arrested
One of Zelensky’s advisers, Mikhailo Podoliak, on Thursday urged Western countries to “stop trembling before Putin” and hand over heavy armor to kyiv.
But Western countries fear that, despite Ukrainian assurances, kyiv will escalate the conflict by using these weapons to strike inside Russian territory and its air and naval bases in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
The UN announced on Friday the arrival of a first humanitarian convoy near Soledar, a city in eastern Ukraine whose conquest was claimed last week by the Russian army and mercenaries from the Wagner militia. kyiv denies the fall of Soledar.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian security services claimed to have detained “seven Russian agents” in the eastern region of Dnipro, possibly involved in an attack on a residential building in the city in which at least 45 people died, including six children. .
AFP Agency
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