I’ll send tanks to Ukraine ... but not until US does, says Scholz
OLAF SCHOLZ has said Germany would “never act alone” as Berlin hinted it was waiting for the US to send battle tanks to Ukraine before following suit.
The German chancellor said his support for Kyiv would only be ramped up if it avoids “escalating” the war in Ukraine, something his officials believe sending Leopard II tanks could do.
He is under mounting pressure from Nato allies to approve deliveries of the German-made battle tank, especially from the likes of Poland and Lithuania which need his permission to send the military vehicles from their fleet.
Mr Scholz intervened after Robert Habeck, his economy minister, said Germany would probably only approve export declarations for Leopards if the US sent its own Abrams battle tanks to Kyiv first.
There are about 2,000 of the German-made Leopards in the armies of a dozen Nato member states and several allies hope to donate as many as 90 as part of an international effort to ramp up support for Ukraine.
But before they can send tanks from their fleets, they must first secure permission from Berlin in the form of export declarations for each vehicle. In response to questions over his reluctance to sanction tank donations, Mr Scholz said that one of his aims was to avoid “escalating” to become “a war between Russia and Nato”.
He said Berlin had already promised Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which are sometimes described as light tanks, after brokering a pact with the US to send similar hardware.
“One message above all, we will always act together with our allies and friends,” he added. “We are never going alone, because this is necessary in a very difficult situation like this.”
Mr Habeck yesterday appeared to use the US’S position as an excuse for not sending tanks. But he also blamed his country’s history for a reluctance to give permission for allies to send models of its domestic-made tanks to Kyiv.
“I would argue that we will do that,” he told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“If America will decide that they will bring battle tanks to Ukraine, that will make it easier for Germany.
“You know our history, and we are a little bit more reluctant there for understandable reasons.”
Officials in Washington have warned that they are unlikely to send Abrams battle tanks because they are notoriously hard to operate and maintain.