The German government will not object if Poland decides to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany's top diplomat said on Sunday.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told French TV channel LCI that Poland has not formally asked for Berlin's approval to share some of its German-made Leopards but added"if we were asked, we would not stand in the way."
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that if the fellow NATO and European Union member did not consent to transferring Leopard tanks to Ukraine, his country was prepared to build a"smaller coalition" of countries that would send theirs anyway. "Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe," Volodin said."If Washington and NATO supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons."
Scholz did not respond when asked about the Leopard 2 tanks Sunday, but stressed that his country already has made sizable military contributions to Ukraine. Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also spoke up for the U.S. sending Abrams. Ukraine has argued it needs more weapons as it anticipates Russia's forces launching a new offensive in the spring.
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