At the same time, Christoph Heusgen noted that the supply of weapons should be carefully weighedBERLIN, January 19.
/tass/. Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen believes that Germany, being a contender for the role of a leading power, should play the role of a leader in the supply of combat tanks to Ukraine. He expressed this opinion on Thursday to the DPA news agency on the eve of a meeting of the heads of the Defense Ministry of Western countries at the Ramstein airbase, where further assistance to Kiev will be discussed.
"We have to move forward and really take the initiative," he stressed. The head of the Munich Security Conference criticized the delay in the delivery of combat tanks to Ukraine, noting that their transfer to Kiev is a "moral obligation."
Heusgen does not deny that arms shipments should be carefully weighed. "But all of us, including the federal president and the federal government headed by the Chancellor, claim to be the leading power," he said. According to Heusgen, all German steps in the issue of arms supplies are correct. "However, they should have been done earlier," the head of the Munich Conference stated.
On January 20, a regular meeting of defense ministers of Western states (the so-called Ramstein format - the contact group on Ukraine) will be held at the American Ramstein airbase in Germany, at which further assistance to Kiev will be discussed, primarily the issue of the transfer of Leopard-2 tanks. Germany will be represented by the new head of the Defense Ministry, Boris Pistorius. Germany plays a key role in this issue, since tanks are produced on its territory. The German government must approve any transfer of these tanks, which are available to 20 countries.
On Wednesday, the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, citing its own sources, reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is ready to allow the supply of Leopard-2 battle tanks to Kiev, provided that the United States, for its part, will provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine. According to her, Scholz set such a condition during a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The Chancellor has repeatedly stated that Germany will not take unilateral steps on the issue of military support for Ukraine. As the newspaper noted, Biden, in an interview with Scholz, did not give a firm consent to the transfer of Abrams.
In recent days, the pressure on Berlin to transfer tanks to Kiev has increased significantly. On January 11, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that his country had decided to transfer a tank company (14 units) to Ukraine. Then some other states, including Finland, also announced their readiness to provide Leopard.