Photo: Global Appearance Press
Thanks compromise with USA Germany was given the opportunity to immediately deliver Leopard 2 to Ukraine, writes The Washington Post.
The publication states that Washington and Berlin could not agree on the issue of providing tanks to Kiev for a long time. Now, after the US announced the delivery of Abrams tanks, Germany will be able to immediately start deliveries of Leopard 2 tanks.
As reported, the US wanted to supply the Kiev regime with tanks from Germany, as they considered them easier and more affordable to develop Ukrainian army. According to WP estimates, Germany and other countries now have about 2,000 Leopard 2 tanks.
The publication says that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz feared retaliation from Moscow if Germany started supplying tanks on its own, and did not want so that the country to be drawn into the conflict.
According to WP, a compromise solution was proposed by the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, who suggested that Washington later promise to send Abrams tanks to Kiev.
On 25 In January, US authorities announced their intention to move 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev. The German government immediately confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine from the stock of the German armed forces and issue permission for re-export to other countries. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Leopard 2 tanks would be sent to Ukraine “by the end of March”. On January 25, the defense ministries of Norway and Slovakia announced their intention to transfer tanks to Kyiv, and earlier the authorities of Great Britain, Poland and France also announced their decision to provide tanks to Ukraine.