French Leclerc main battle tanks
Andreas Linke and Leigh Thomas – Reuters Jan 23, 2023
Germany’s foreign minister said on Sunday her government would not stand in the way if Poland wants to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, in a possible breakthrough for Kyiv which wants the tanks for its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian officials have been calling on Western allies to supply them with the modern German-made tanks for months – but Berlin has so far held back from sending them, or allowing other NATO countries to do so.
Asked what would happen if Poland went ahead and sent its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval, Annalena Baerbock said on France’s LCI TV: “For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way.”
Her remarks appeared to go further than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s comments at a summit in Paris earlier on Sunday that all decisions on weapons deliveries would be made in coordination with allies including the United States
Germany has been under heavy pressure to let Leopards go to Ukraine. But Scholz’s Social Democrat party is traditionally sceptical of military involvements and wary of sudden moves that could cause Moscow to further escalate.
German defense minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday that he expected a decision soon on the tanks, though he kept up a note of caution.
Pistorius told ARD TV that Germany would not make a hasty decision because the government had many factors to consider, including consequences at home for the security of the German population.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his long-standing plea for the tanks at his Sunday meeting with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was visiting Kyiv.
“We need more weapons: tanks, aircraft, long-range missiles,” Zelenskiy said, according to a statement on his website.
Ukraine says the heavily armoured Western battle tanks would give the Ukrainian ground troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive which Kyiv expects in the near future. It would also help Ukraine retake some of the territory that has fallen to Russia.
After the Paris summit, Scholz told a news conference that all weapons deliveries to Ukraine so far had taken place in close coordination with Western partners. “We will do that in the future,” he said.
Speaking at the same news conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.
Macron said that sending tanks must not escalate the situation, must take into account the time to train Ukrainians to be effective, and must not endanger France’s own security.
“Regarding the Leclercs, I asked the Army minister to work on it, but nothing has been ruled out,” Macron said, adding that the move would have to be coordinated with allies such as Germany in the coming days and weeks.
German sources have told Reuters they would allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks. But U.S. officials have said President Joe Biden’s administration is not poised to send its own tanks, including the M1 Abrams.
The Kremlin’s spokesman said on Friday that Western countries supplying additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict and that they would add to the problems of the Ukrainian people.
It will be interesting to see Russia’s response to these tanks, as in where and how will they destroy them? As soon as they cross into Ukraine, or wait until they approach battle positions and are full of fuel, shells and crew? If they’re going to end up immovable redundant shells then it may be advantageous to pick where their hulks can block roads or access to barracks. In that case enough damage to immobilise them should do, whereas elsewhere blow them apart to show Ukraine and the west just how pointless they were.
It is interesting to note that the German realised that releasing their tanks will negatively impact their ability to wage war and that the USA is maintaining their military strength. It appears that, in the short term to mid term, all of Europe nations will have to bow and depend on the US for their security. When you bow to USA, you are a slave.
Mosestein: We will utilize war, immigration, vaccines, miscegenation & fentanyl to eradicate the remaining white populations on the planet. Via the destruction of Nazi Germany the white race lost its only racial-national defense against white genocide.
Ratchild: Excellent.
The Russians will know exactly where these vehicles are, every inch of the way. it’s bait of course, hoping that the Russians will strike while they are on NATO soil.
It’s going to go nuclear, so the Russians might as well launch now. That they don’t is probably because they are waiting in the hope that the West will implode before it becomes necessary. The problem with that is that the West is run by maniacs. If they think they are going down, they will launch and take the whole planet with them (Jews – what do you expect?).
just who exactly is going to man all this new equipment , 157000 dead and thousands more wounded Ukraine is calling up kids. There’s the farcical story of a man with no hands being told to go to the front and regular reports of men resorting by any means to abstain from fighting. It’s clear many of the leadership are jumping ship , all non diplomatic travel has been banned the fake stream media reports this as Zelensky removing corruption !! Sooner rather than later NATO will have to address the manpower issue besides it’s equipment being turned to junk and if there will be any one left to lead.
When the European people finally realize they’ve been duped by the International Cabal, they will have been de-industrialized, jobless, enduring sky-high inflation, and burdened with more immigrants (from Ukraine). Europeans cannot even confront the scoundrels, as they have obediently emptied their armories of weapons and ordinance. Brilliant indeed !!!
Germany confirms they will send tanks to UKraine, even though it is forbided by the German constitution.
This confirms that NATO is a Nazi organisation, and so are member regimes.
Aleister: Spot on mate!
Leopards + israeli Merkava are easy to
knock out . russians should follow advise
of turks + hizbollah . in a missile war tanks
anyway are obsolete .
ITS ALL ONLY SCRAPMETAL !