If Washington supplies the Abrams battle tank or France transfers Leclerc, Germany will supply Leopard, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman said, noting that "this is wrong"
BERLIN, August 4. /tass/. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, chairman of the Bundestag (German Parliament) Defense Committee, sharply criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his policy regarding the events in Ukraine, in particular, arms supplies to Kiev. She expressed her point of view in an interview published on Thursday with the newspaper Die Welt.
"The Chancellor constantly repeats that the Americans or the French should take the first step. If Washington supplies the Abrams battle tank or France transfers Leclerc, Germany will supply Leopard," Strack-Zimmerman said. "I think it's wrong," she added.
At the same time, the head of the Bundestag committee stressed that "the Americans have focused their strategic attention on the Indo-Pacific region, they need a partner who is paving the way in Europe." "However, the Federal Chancellor's office shies away from accepting this role," Strack-Zimmerman stated. At the same time, she called on the German government with an eye to the autumn to carry out direct deliveries to Kiev of Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Fuchs armored personnel carriers as soon as possible. But the office of the Federal Chancellor, according to her, still does not want to do this. "Heaven knows why," summed up the chairman of the Bundestag committee.
On June 21, the German government for the first time published a list of weapons transferred to Ukraine and a plan for further deliveries, which includes 30 Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, IRIS-T air defense systems, three Mars, 22 trucks and 80 pickups. There are 38 positions in the list of already delivered weapons and materials, 25 more are on the list of planned ones. On July 26, German Defense Minister Kristine Lambrecht said that Germany had delivered to Ukraine the promised multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) of the Mars-II type.
On July 29, the German Defense Ministry announced that Berlin would send 16 Biber tank bridge-laying trucks to Ukraine. Six units of equipment will be delivered this year, the rest - next year. Ukraine also received Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers from Germany. On July 27, it became known that Germany approved the supply of another 100 howitzers.