Send tanks
Ukraine’s plea to Western allies as Germans stall on arms move
UKRAINE President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday made a passionate plea to Western allies to deliver desperately needed tanks.
Germany has came under intense diplomatic pressure this week to agree to transfer a number of its formidable Leopard 2 tanks to the front line so they can combat the Russian invaders.
But they have stalled, saying they are still weighing up the situation and will only supply tanks if the US does too.
A number of European countries have pledged to send tanks to Ukraine in recent weeks. And in a video address to defence ministers at the US air base in
Ramstein, Germany, Mr Zelensky thanked them for their support so far but urged the conference to become a “Ramstein of tanks”.
He said: “I can thank you hundreds of times but hundreds of thank yous are not hundreds of tanks. We have to speed up.
“You can start this policy today. It is in your power to make a Ramstein of tanks. Not to bargain about different numbers of tanks but to open the principle of supply that will stop Russian evil.”
US defence secretary Lloyd
Austin, who was seen chatting to his German counterpart Boris Pistorius – only appointed on Thursday – and Ukrainian Oleksii Reznikov, said that he is determined to get tanks to Ukraine.
He added: “We’re going to continue to dig deep and, based upon the progress that we’ve made today, I’m confident that Ukraine’s partners around the globe are determined to meet this moment.”
Chan
cellor Olaf Scholz said Germany is “strategically interlocked with our friends and partners”.
He added: “We are never doing something just by ourselves but with others, especially the US.”
But one official explained that for Germany the tanks question is an emotional and controversial one due to the Second World War.
He said: “It is a red, red, red line. German tanks fighting Russia again. It’s a moral issue.”
It is believed that the US has so far declined to send any of its M1 Abrams tanks because of fuel and maintenance concerns. Britain has already agreed to supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks.