“US tanks not required”
Pistorius announces “Leopard” vote by tomorrow morning
01/19/2023 10:04 p.m
In the end, it seemed as if the chancellor was making conditions for the United States: Scholz would only release Leopard tanks if Washington delivered Kyiv Abrams tanks. The new defense secretary says he knows nothing about it. But Germany will decide within hours.
The new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius does not see the delivery of US Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine as a condition for the possible dispatch of German battle tanks. “I’m not aware of such a link,” said the SPD politician in an ARD “Focal Point” evening when asked whether Germany would only be willing to supply Leopard tanks if the United States were to supply Abrams main battle tanks. When asked whether Germany would supply main battle tanks without the US, Pistorius said that was an issue Chancellor Olaf Scholz was discussing with US President Joe Biden.
“I’m pretty sure that we’ll get a decision on this in the next few days. But I can’t tell you today what that will look like.” The fact is, however, that Germany is acting in coordination with the most important NATO partner, the USA, as in the past few months. Regarding the willingness of Great Britain or Poland to deliver main battle tanks, Pistorius said it was not the case that the majority of European NATO countries saw it the same way. There is no unanimous opinion among the German population either. The Leopard tank is a technically high-quality tank that is also suitable for offensive actions. You have to think carefully about the conditions under which a delivery would be possible. Asked whether Germany would give the green light to other countries to export German-made Leopard tanks at the Ramstein conference of western Ukraine supporters on Friday, Pistorius said: “That will become clear in the next few hours or tomorrow morning. “
“Nobody excludes that leopards will be delivered”
At RTL, Pistorius had slowed down expectations of timely answers. “I don’t tend to take quick shots. We don’t have much time, but we have to use it to prepare the right decisions,” said Pistorius. The minister also emphasized the concerted approach in the ZDF “heute journal”. “We did very well as the Federal Republic of Germany and as an ally that the big, important decisions to support Ukraine were always made in transatlantic solidarity,” said Pistorius on ZDF. “Alliance commitment also means that an alliance must stand together and make decisions together and perform joint services.”
“We’re talking about a main battle tank like the Leopard 2, which is one of the best and also one of the most offensively capable there is. And so it should be treated with caution just giving it out now.” It is clear that he could play an important role. Pistorius also emphasized on ZDF that he was pretty sure that there would be a solution very soon. “Nobody excludes that Leopard tanks can be delivered, or that approval, consent can be given to the delivery of other European partners. But not all questions have been answered until then, and that is happening at the moment.”
Pistorius received his US colleague Lloyd Austin on Thursday as the first foreign visitor after taking office. “We got along very well right away,” emphasized Pistorius on ZDF. Both had agreed to exchange information regularly. On Friday, defense ministers and senior military officials from numerous countries will meet at the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate to discuss continued support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.