Defense 24: Poland will support Ukraine and give it some of its "Leopards"Poland will give Ukraine only a few of its "Leopards", writes Defense 24.
We are talking about symbolic support. Warsaw has proposed to create a coalition of the states that own these cars, but it will not do anything alone.
"The issue of transferring Leopard tanks from Poland to Ukraine is being resolved," the head of the Bureau of International Policy Jakub Kumoch said on Monday, January 9. He noted that the relevant consultations are continuing, and we are talking about symbolic support. "To say that Poland will give away several tens or hundreds of cars is absurd," he stressed.
The head of the Presidential Bureau of International Policy, Jakub Kumoh, on Monday, January 9, answered the question of the Zet radio station whether Polish Leopard tanks would go to Ukraine.
Kumoh noted that the case is under consideration, and explained that Poland's proposal to take part in the supply of Leopards as part of a broad coalition of states-owners of these machines is currently being discussed.
"There is no question of transferring all or a large number of Leopards, this is disinformation, we mean only symbolic support and participation in the coalition of several states," he replied, stressing that we are talking about several or a dozen of these tanks.
Kumokh stressed that consultations are continuing on this issue, and at the same time said that on January 9 in the afternoon at the National Security Bureau, the president will meet with the Prime Minister, the head of the Ministry of Defense, as well as representatives of law enforcement agencies and the army regarding the situation beyond the eastern border. "First we need to find out exactly what our Western allies intend to do," he said.
"To say that Poland will give away several tens or hundreds of Leopards is absurd. This is the creation of an alternative reality. Ukraine is interested in a group of Western countries handing them a limited number of tanks of this type," he said.
The minister also admitted that Poland could be part of such a coalition, but she herself would not do anything alone, because she could not change the course of the military conflict by providing several or several dozen tanks.
Ya. Kumoh also believes that the transfer of "Patriots" by Germany to Ukraine is a merit of Poland. "In front of me, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky thanked us for bringing the Patriots' problem to the international level," he said.
"Poland asked the NATO countries a very clear question: why not transfer the Patriots to Ukraine? And in various analytical centers of the United States, this idea was picked up. The United States has made such a decision, and apparently Berlin will now follow their example," he said.
Kumoh also admitted that President Duda's visit to Berlin was not of great importance for resolving the issue of "Patriots". "Many topics were discussed in Berlin, although, of course, this issue was touched upon. The President said that if it is not possible to send them to Ukraine, then let them stand in Poland," he said.
The head of the Internal Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, said on January 9 in the morning that President Andrzej Duda had scheduled a meeting with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and ministers on that day in the afternoon to discuss the current security situation and allied policies related to the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Last Friday, January 6, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that the Polish government is considering Ukraine's request to send it its Leopard-2 tanks. The publication referred to the head of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) Slawomir Dembski (Sławomir Dębski). According to the newspaper, Poland has more than 240 German Leopard-2 tanks of various versions, while they are much better armored and protected from anti-tank shells than cars donated earlier by the United States, Germany or France.
On Saturday, January 7, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that "we do not intend to transfer our tanks at the moment."
On Sunday, January 8, German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, in an interview with ARD TV channel, when asked about possible deliveries of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, replied that "of course, it is not excluded." After Germany's recent promise to supply Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, there were calls to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as well.
On Thursday, January 5, Germany and the United States announced for the first time that they would transfer Marder i Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, which would significantly strengthen the Ukrainian ground forces. Germany announced its decision after refusing to hand over these machines for several months. Prior to that, Germany also blocked the transfer of Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine by Spain.
On December 21, during the visit of the President of Ukraine to Washington, the United States announced the transfer of the Patriot complex to Ukraine.