The Ukrainian side has repeatedly demanded that Berlin provide Leopard 2 tanksBERLIN, October 22.
/tass/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany will not supply Western-made weapons, including German Leopard 2 tanks, unilaterally, without coordination with partners. He stated this in an interview published on Saturday with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
The Ukrainian side has repeatedly demanded that Berlin provide Leopard 2 tanks. A number of representatives of liberals and "greens" have previously spoken out for the transfer of these combat systems, but the Chancellor still remains adamant on this issue and has repeatedly referred to the fact that tanks are not provided to Kiev even by the United States.
"Germany, as part of a round-robin exchange, made sure that more than 100 tanks were delivered to Ukraine, which could be used immediately - from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece," the chancellor said.
Answering the question why Berlin is against providing Kiev with Western-made tanks, including German Leopard 2, he pointed out that "in Ukraine there are logistics, spare parts, ammunition for tanks of Russian and post-Soviet production." "We are trying to make deliveries from other countries. But, as before, the question of what kind of weapons we supply is based on a very clear principle - no unilateral steps," Scholz stressed.
According to an earlier report by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Germany has already supplied Ukraine with military goods worth 686 million euros. Thus, Ukraine has become the most important recipient of German weapons among non-NATO and non-alliance partners.
